When you're applying for a job and your potential employer wants to know if you're really the right person for the position they will usually look to your references for help. You may be looking to work in waste water grit removal and they need to know if you have the right training for the position or if you're interested in a job in customer service they could want to know about your people skills. Your references really can make the difference between you getting hired or not. But, this seems to be the part of the application process where people put in the least thought. Here are some tips for choosing the right references for each job application.
Make sure all of your references are appropriate for that job opening. Many people have a list of three or four past employers that they feel are good references for any job opening, but this is just not the case. If you're applying for a job selling cable cutters to factory buyers and applying for a position selling tools in a hardware store you are going to want to exemplify different skills from your various reference choices. While both job openings are technically for salesman, they work in different ways and employers are likely looking for different things.
If you're unsure of what you should be looking for in a good reference than go back to the job posting for clues. If it talks a lot about working in a team environment at a place like fitness gyms Toronto than you might want to include a reference from a colleague instead of just those of former bosses. If you have a unique skill that you feel really separates you from the other applicants than you will want to make sure that you have at least one reference that can mention this when asked.
It's more important that your reference speak highly of you than it is for them to be in a related field. If you're applying to do bathroom renovations Toronto based and you have a former boss who loved you when you worked in an office and a boss you never really got along with in construction than you will want to use the office employer. Your resume should show your experience while your references are advocates of why you are the best person for the job.
Make sure that you ask all of your references for their help before each job interview. You are likely to get better answers from them if they know that they might be called for a job where you will be installing instant water heaters, rather than just using them for each job application no matter what it is and them being called unannounced.
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