Who Should You Really List as Your Professional References? (2024)

Upon readingajobdescription, you see that it requires at least threereferences. Butyou haveneverneeded toprovidereferencesbefore! What should you do?Whomshould you put as your reference?What makes a reference professional?

Let’sstart with whomyoushouldnotlist as a reference.Believe it or not, this list ismuchlonger thanthatof those youshouldlist. To name a few, you should stay away from including your family, past employers whom you have bad blood with, or employers that you have not worked for in a long time.

Yourparentsprobably havea lot of good things to say about you. They would mention how you were such a good kid;always doing your chores,getting good grades, andgoing tobed on time. But, unfortunately, listingfamilymembersis an unprofessional move to make when applying for a job. They areusuallyaround you when you areoutsideof work. Youractions in the workplaceregardingthe work that you get done, or the way you go about socializing in the workplacecan’tbe verified byyour family. Additionally, there is a bias present with anystatementthat afamily membermakes.

In one of your recent jobs, you may have done some amazing work tobenefittheorganization. But if youleftonbad terms with yourpreviousemployer,listing them is nota goodidea.Itis entirely possible that theymaymention theeffortsyoumade tobenefitthe organization, but whatever negatives that were left unresolved prior to yourleavingmay be brought up as well. If you would like togivea goodfirst impression, it is best to leave outemployersthat youareno longeron good termswith.

Along with connections that you are no longer on good terms with, it isalmost equallyas unwise to add a professional reference from an organization that youhaven’tbeen employed at for more than five years.In five years, you have more than enough time tomake new connections in the workplace.By usingoutdated references, thereis nobody that canvalidatethat you have done any credible work that is relevant to the job you are applying for withinrecent years.

So,whoshouldyou add to your list of references when applying for a job?

You should add those who you have made a genuine connection with, especially if it was in a professional setting.It’sone thing to addsomeonefrom your past, but itmakesall the difference ifyou got along well withwho youhaveadded.

Think back toanorganizationthat you have worked for in the past five years. Can you confidently say that yoursupervisor/employer will speak positively of you? Adding a past employer whomyou impressed withyour work is an excellent idea. As someone who oversaw you, they areeasilyone of the best individuals that you can include as a reference.The praise that they gave you while you worked for them will come back again when the hiring manager contactsthemto ask about you.

Additionally, past coworkers andcolleagues are a top-tier reference to use. Not only did theyobservehow you work in aprofessionalsetting, but they also had the chance to workwith you.They know what it is like to work together with you in a team effort towards a commongoal,andhavewitnessedfirst-hand how you handle situations that require problem-solving.

Depending on how old you are, or when the last time you took classes was, you can include your teachers or professors.The instructors that youmet with after class tohelpyou understand the material,the teacher that could always rely onyouto have the correct answer during class, or the professor who was thoroughly impressed by theamountof detailyou put into that final papermake for excellent references.

If you volunteer on the weekends, a reference that you can list is the project coordinator, anotherposition holder on staff, or someone else who is also regularly involvedif you have gotten to know them.They’llbe able to go into depth on the details of the cause(s) that you support as well as how muchtime outside ofwork you spend giving backto the community.

Don’treally volunteer on theweekend?How about your social life? Using close friendsshouldn’tbe your first choice, and theyaren’tas great of a pick as a past employer.But if youdon’thave enough ideal professional references, and you need to resort to friends, you should list twice as many.Aclose friendcaninform the hiring manageronwhat you are like outside of work.Friendscan mention your commitment to going to the gym regularly for your physical health, how you let them stay on their couch whenthey hadnowhereto go,the time you savedsomeone from choking in college, etc.(On the basis that they are notlying of course)

Finally, when you apply for a job that asks for references, make sure that you ask the people you would like to include if they are okay with it. It is not polite togive away someone’s personal information unknowingly, and it looks very unprofessional if thehiring manager calls/emailsone of your references and they were nottold that you gave away their email and/or phone number.

Written by:

Spencer Ford

Marketing Contributor

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