Reference letter basics
June 16, 2011 12:18 PM Subscribe
How do I got about getting reference letters? I'm about to enter the professional world and I'm clueless about how to do this because I've only worked in academia.
I'm pretty sure that I will be able to obtain several positive letters of reference. When I ask my contacts for reference letters, do they just send them to me for me to keep on file in case I need to submit them to future employers? Do I need a letter specifically addressed to the potential employer?
At what point do I submit my letters of reference? After I am called up for an interview (fingers crossed?)? Or do I just give my former employers contact information and have my potential employer contact them? Do potential employers want to have direct contact with my references?
I'm sorry if this is all common knowledge, but I feel quite clueless about this. Thanks so much for any advice.
I'm pretty sure that I will be able to obtain several positive letters of reference. When I ask my contacts for reference letters, do they just send them to me for me to keep on file in case I need to submit them to future employers? Do I need a letter specifically addressed to the potential employer?
At what point do I submit my letters of reference? After I am called up for an interview (fingers crossed?)? Or do I just give my former employers contact information and have my potential employer contact them? Do potential employers want to have direct contact with my references?
I'm sorry if this is all common knowledge, but I feel quite clueless about this. Thanks so much for any advice.
(Also, don't put "REFERENCES UPON REQUEST" on the bottom of your resume, like some places suggest you do. Just carry a separate sheet of papers with your references -- same paper, header, etc. as your resume -- and if they don't want it, they don't want it.)
posted by griphus at 12:28 PM on June 16, 2011
posted by griphus at 12:28 PM on June 16, 2011
I would recommend getting yourself an account on LinkedIn if you don't have one already. Start to build up a selection of contacts on there. Having somebody as a network contact is a good preliminary to asking them to giving you a reference. You can ask those people who you believe would give you a good reference to do so on the system. That is often a good idea since
1. You are able to check that the reference is a good one.
2. When it comes time to sending a reference out as part of a job application they will often be able to copy and paste much of what they wrote before.
3. You can look at the network of the person giving you the reference: do they appear credible to others - do they have the right sort of contacts?
Don't submit your reference letters until you are asked for them (which will probably be after an initial interview). Bear in mind that your employer may well have a policy of not giving official personal references because of the potential legal repercussions.
posted by rongorongo at 12:32 PM on June 16, 2011
1. You are able to check that the reference is a good one.
2. When it comes time to sending a reference out as part of a job application they will often be able to copy and paste much of what they wrote before.
3. You can look at the network of the person giving you the reference: do they appear credible to others - do they have the right sort of contacts?
Don't submit your reference letters until you are asked for them (which will probably be after an initial interview). Bear in mind that your employer may well have a policy of not giving official personal references because of the potential legal repercussions.
posted by rongorongo at 12:32 PM on June 16, 2011
Just to be clear, are you in North America or elsewhere? Because references, resumes, etc, work very differently in different places.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:38 PM on June 16, 2011
posted by jacquilynne at 12:38 PM on June 16, 2011
I imagine there's some differences depending on the field and country, but I never saw letters of recommendation outside of academia. The expectation has only been for reference names, professional relationship, and contact info.
I don't know what the standard is anymore, but most people I know leave off any kind of references section from their resume, and just provide the information when requested (either at a form/application stage, or after interviews). If the employer wants to contact them, they will. These were all professional tech industry jobs, so there's a bit of a nontraditional attitude that might affect this as opposed to, say, government jobs.
Almost everywhere I've interviewed wanted references -- usually names, numbers and relationship -- to call. None of them ever called any, but it's a basic interview process thing.
This was my experience too, until my current job where every one of my references was called and absolutely interrogated for a half hour. YMMV. Always a good idea to give your references a heads up if a potential employer asks for their information.
posted by subject_verb_remainder at 12:48 PM on June 16, 2011
I don't know what the standard is anymore, but most people I know leave off any kind of references section from their resume, and just provide the information when requested (either at a form/application stage, or after interviews). If the employer wants to contact them, they will. These were all professional tech industry jobs, so there's a bit of a nontraditional attitude that might affect this as opposed to, say, government jobs.
Almost everywhere I've interviewed wanted references -- usually names, numbers and relationship -- to call. None of them ever called any, but it's a basic interview process thing.
This was my experience too, until my current job where every one of my references was called and absolutely interrogated for a half hour. YMMV. Always a good idea to give your references a heads up if a potential employer asks for their information.
posted by subject_verb_remainder at 12:48 PM on June 16, 2011
In the US, I've only needed actual letters for academic purposes. Usually I've just asked people if they would be willing to act as a reference. If they were, I listed them on that separate sheet of references that rongorongo mentions with their name, company, position, and phone number.
Usually they were never contacted, and when they were it was pretty basic information about whether I really had worked with them and if they would recommend me. Most hiring managers realize that they're only so useful, as you are only going to list people who are likely to recommend you.
posted by ldthomps at 12:48 PM on June 16, 2011
Usually they were never contacted, and when they were it was pretty basic information about whether I really had worked with them and if they would recommend me. Most hiring managers realize that they're only so useful, as you are only going to list people who are likely to recommend you.
posted by ldthomps at 12:48 PM on June 16, 2011
Response by poster: Just to be clear, are you in North America or elsewhere? Because references, resumes, etc, work very differently in different places.
I'm in California.
posted by garuda at 12:55 PM on June 16, 2011
I'm in California.
posted by garuda at 12:55 PM on June 16, 2011
When I solicited reference letters for a job search, I got three or four contacts who agreed to provide a letter. I spoke to them for a few minutes about what they would be willing to say, and was not shy in suggesting things that I thought were helpful and that I thought they would readily agree to. Then I volunteered to write the letters for them to save time--all they had to do was to provide feedback if they wanted any changes, cut & paste the final draft to match their formatting standards, print it on their letterhead, and sign it.
Obviously, if your contacts are better writers or would prefer to write it themselves, you should do it that way.
Mine were mostly addressed generally to a prospective employer. If your professional reference actually has a relationship with the specific employer though, you should ask them to write one directly for the employer or to otherwise reach out to the employer.
I'd submit letters only if asked; if there's a relationship, let the reference contact them directly because rules are more flexible when you're using your network.
posted by Hylas at 3:28 PM on June 16, 2011
Obviously, if your contacts are better writers or would prefer to write it themselves, you should do it that way.
Mine were mostly addressed generally to a prospective employer. If your professional reference actually has a relationship with the specific employer though, you should ask them to write one directly for the employer or to otherwise reach out to the employer.
I'd submit letters only if asked; if there's a relationship, let the reference contact them directly because rules are more flexible when you're using your network.
posted by Hylas at 3:28 PM on June 16, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
You can certainly have a basic letter of reference on file, especially if the people giving you references aren't close, but having a specific one for a specific job is best. Being able to get a targeted letter of reference (like your resume should be targeted) is one of those perks of keeping in regular contact with the people in your professional network that everyone is always touting.
Do potential employers want to have direct contact with my references?
Yes, but this is a separate thing from reference letters. Almost everywhere I've interviewed wanted references -- usually names, numbers and relationship -- to call. None of them ever called any, but it's a basic interview process thing.
posted by griphus at 12:26 PM on June 16, 2011