Job Reference Etiquette: How To Help Your References Help You

You crafted the perfect resume. You rocked your interviews. And now, your dream employer has asked for your references. You’re so close to obtaining the job you want, now is not the time to drop the ball.

Your references are an important part of the job search process. But because they are the last step of the process, many job seekers spend more time with their resume, cover letter, and interview skills, they end up sharing references without considering reference etiquette. By not following a few simple steps with their references, job seekers risk losing out on that perfect job.

Here are four key elements of job reference etiquette that will help ensure your references are able to properly sell you to your potential employer.

Keep in contact with your references through the years

No one wants to be called and asked for a favour from someone they haven’t spoken to in five years. While life can keep us busy, it’s important to maintain relationships with the former colleagues and supervisors who may act as a valuable reference in the future. Social media makes this process much easier. It can be as simple as a short message on LinkedIn once a year to see how they are doing and what new developments have occurred in their career.

This also provides you the opportunity to update references on your personal career path and share what new skills you’ve acquired. This will help your references remember the value you brought to a company and demonstrate that you continue to provide value in your work.

Ask for permission before ever giving out a reference

This is the most common and most dangerous mistake job seekers can make with references. Not only is it respectful to obtain your reference’s consent before sharing their contact information, it also allows you to ensure your reference won’t be on vacation or unavailable to take your prospective employer’s call. At this stage, let your reference know what type of roles you’re applying to — who knows, they might even know of an opportunity for you!

Employers will be able to tell if your reference wasn’t expecting to hear their call. This signals to the employer that you may not have the communication, organization, and professional skills required to excel at your role.

Inform your references when they may be contacted

Asking permission from a reference is the first step. Letting them know when you’ve shared their contact information and with who is the next. When you tell a reference what company they’ll be hearing from and the job you’ve applied for, they can begin to reflect on how they know you’ll fit into the role. You can ask your reference to highlight specific skills you want them to focus on and what skills the role requires. This will allow them to easily reference examples and stories from their work with you when speaking to your prospective employer. It’s a vital step in ensuring your reference can help you obtain a job offer.

Most of the time, your reference want to help you secure the offer. They will be happy to have you share tips and tricks on how they can shine the best light on you.

Thank your references, whether you were offered the job or not

Providing a job reference for someone does take time out of a person’s day. Reference calls can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Your references are taking their time and energy to help you as best as possible, and it’s important to recognize that with a thank you note. Whether it’s through email or in a handwritten note, a thank you goes a long way in showing appreciation and maintaining that reference for your next job opportunity. Your reference will also want to hear if you were successful in obtaining the role or not, they’re invested in the process now!

If you have the ability to, it doesn’t hurt to show extra gratitude to your references by treating them to a coffee or a gift card to their favourite restaurant.

What are some other ways you can help your references help you? Share in the comments on Facebook or in the comment section below.

Finding Work After 50

Age is just a number, until it comes to finding a job.

Losing your job or changing careers later in life can be both terrifying and exciting. There are so many questions; Should I look for work in the same field or should I try something new? Are my tech skills adequate for today’s labour market? Will an employer hire someone like me who’s getting close to retirement age?

Keeping your cool and using some new strategies can make the experience fun and rewarding. You can get the foot in the door by making a few simple tweaks to your resume and modernizing your approach to job search.

Update your email address

If your email is one of the older domains from the 00’s like Yahoo or MSN, consider updating to Gmail or if you have a website, consider using an email address connected to your domain.

Remove years and stale info from your resume

If you graduated high school in ‘82 or college in ’89 you are giving away your age before prospective employers even get a chance to meet you. If you have post secondary education, remove the high school completely. If you only have high school, leave the info but remove the graduating year.

Remove any certificates or micro qualifications that are expired or more than 10 years old. If you are 52 years and your resume still has a babysitting certificate from when you were 15, remove it. Instead focus on courses or certificates that show you have been learning new skills. In fact, during your job search is a great time to update Foodsafe, Serving it Right, First Aid or other certificates that may have expired.

Make sure you exist online

If you haven’t already done it, create a profile somewhere on social media; Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or another platform and start creating a presence for yourself. If you already have an established profile, find a way to mention that in your resume or cover letter. If you admin community Facebook pages, or have a website or are active on Twitter, make sure to mention this too.

Don’t overlook references to webinars, resources, courses or training that you have accessed on the internet. If you did labour market research about the field you are entering, try to slide that into your cover letter or mention it in your interview. Doing so can be a good reflection of your technical skills and your ability to stay current. Employers are generally looking for people who know their way around the internet and social media.

Clean up your act

Employers will Google you and check out your Facebook profile. Remove any pictures and content from social media that reflect you in a unprofessional way This is also a fresh way to promote yourself in ways that a resume can’t. Your political views or comments on social issues can tip the scales in your favour if an employer likes what they see, and vice versa. This is also a good way to sneak in some indicators that you are active and healthy, by posting pics or posts talking about being active or engaged with your community.

Market your value

As soon as you walk into an interview the employer is going to recognize you as an older applicant. While age discrimination is illegal, employers will still sometimes dismiss older people due to prejudice and misconceptions about skill levels and health. Employers may have concerns about older workers’ ability to work long hours, or perform more labour-intensive tasks or their ability to gel with a young team.

Being aware of these potential concerns and turning them into a plus can really disarm a reluctant interviewer.  Think about how your maturity can be marketed. During your work life, you have undoubtedly developed a strong work ethic, reliability, the ability to prioritize tasks and manage your time. Yes, young workers might be adventurous, energetic and ambitious but many mature workers have transferrable skills they have gained through raising a family that those younger workers may not have developed yet; diplomacy, crisis management, team leadership, conflict intervention, budgeting. Consider also that now that you probably no longer have kids at home, your time is much more flexible than a young parent’s, your availability to work shifts or be on call could be very attractive to an employer.

Job search after 50 doesn’t have to be frightening and if you take into account the value of your experience and the wisdom you’ve gained along the way you should be able to find a perfect fit in no time.

What is Labour Market Research?

Job seekers will often struggle with knowing where to start looking for work. Going online and searching listings to see what jobs are available in town then sending off resumes is usually about as far as most people go. But doing some further investigation can answer a lot of questions and help make informed decisions to ensure your career is heading in the right direction.

Labour Market Research will tell you not only who is hiring, but can also tell you what to expect for wages, advancement policies, benefits, and job expectations.  Labour Market Research will tell you if the company runs shifts, if employees are expected to be on call, or if the work is seasonal. You can find out what skills you will need to enter a new position, qualifications or certificates you might need, where you can get any required training, and how much it will cost for that training.  

Depending on the information available, you may be able to learn about how the company interacts with community service agencies, other offices or factories they may operate or how the company gives to charity.

This type of in-depth research can really give you a step up in an interview if you mention that you have researched the company and you are already familiar with their hiring practices, policies, mandates or mission statement.  

The more informed you are, the better decisions you can make for yourself and your prospective employer, saving time and frustration for you both.