At the end of your CV, you are at liberty to list
any references you may have. It is purely at your discretion
who you put down. I do favour one or two references from your
working life, and one from the personal side. In this way you
cover both aspects of your persona, ie; work and personal life.
If you do list a personal reference, make sure it
is someone of good standing who you have known for a number of
years. People like solicitors, doctors, company directors. As I
said, people of good standing who's word in your favour will be
seen as very much a plus. In normal circumstances, such a
reference will create a good impression for a potential
employer. As far as work references are concerned, I feel it is
always best to give your immediate superior. After all, they do
know best about working with you, and consequently are best
placed to give a suitably qualified reference.
It is, of course, worth checking with them
that;-
a) they are prepared to
give you a reference, and
b) it will be a
good reference.
There is absolutely no point in giving a
reference who is not going to speak well of you! Now, I
feel sure I can hear you all talking about sucking eggs, but
hey, this is a comprehensive guide. Someone might not have
realised, and if I have saved one embarrassed job applicant,
then it was all worthwhile!
One other area I would avoid for references is
personnel (sorry personnel, again), but the bottom line is, that
they will only have third party knowledge of you, the quality of
your work, your personality etc. They will only go to the line
manager for an opinion in most cases anyway. In some of the
bigger companies, it is entirely possible that personnel have
never met you, do not even know you, and can only go from your
personnel file.
Another angle is to ask for a written reference
from the company before you leave; you know, a "to whom it may
concern" letter. We are seeing this more and more in the
temporary and contract markets. If you do this, you can produce
your references at interview, and save an awful lot of time. In
most cases this type of reference is acceptable and will help
speed your application along.
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CV
Madness!
