regarding Your candidacy
When it’s time for hiring managers to call references, be sure to give them a heads-up and offer suggestions of topics you wish for them to emphasize. It’s a good idea to send an email when you commu-nicate specific details. That way, your reference has everything in writing and won’t forget the important information:
Hello, Jill! I’m so excited to tell you I finally landed an interview for a job I’d really love. The meeting went well, and they mentioned they’ll probably be checking my references next, so I wanted to touch base and fill you in on some details.
The job is a community manager for a visitors bureau in Tucson. In the interview, it was pretty clear they want someone with experience
–Inform potentIaL referenceS aBout Your Search–
consulting with clients to help them achieve measurable results. They also really want to hire someone with a lot of experience customizing presentations to target stakeholders.
I hope you’ll be able to support my candidacy on both points. As I know you’ll remember, when we started working together, our biggest goal was to begin to show measurable changes in our social-media ROI.
Using Google analytics in combination with a social-media action plan, I captured the data the board needed to see, and we increased site traffic by 25% in only three months. And did I ever customize presentations! Remember the decks I created for the community, for our colleagues, and then for the executive committee? It was so exciting when everyone was on board and we could move ahead with the plans.
I’m so grateful to have your help. I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to advise and assist me. Let me know if you have any questions!
Have a great week, and hopefully you’ll get a call from the Tucson Visitors Bureau soon.
Best, Zachary
suCCess story
When Miriam was applying for her job at Emory, she discovered in the interview that teamwork and a willingness to pitch in when nec-essary were crucial skills her employer was seeking. As soon as the interview ended, Miriam contacted her references, informed them of the employer’s “hot button” issues, and asked them to emphasize her teamwork and willingness to pitch in when they spoke on her behalf.
Hopefully, you will have a strong relationship with your references and will feel comfortable making them partners in your search. Identify-ing and sharIdentify-ing key job requirements, buzzwords, and skills directly from the job description, such as “innovative” and “decision maker,” with your references will enable them to effectively endorse you.
In the story above, by sharing specific details about the job, Miriam transformed her references into active advocates! When the hiring man-ager finished speaking with her references, he picked up the phone to offer Miriam the position!
Keep in touch with Your references
Sending emails, notes, and updates about your search are all great ways to stay in touch with the people who are key to helping you land the job of your choice. Set up Google alerts to be notified of anything Google indexes about your references. (Simply Google
“Google alert” to learn how.) In doing so, you may discover that they earned a promotion or a new job, for example, and can quickly email a congratulatory note. Similarly, if you are con-nected via LinkedIn with your potential references, monitor LinkedIn network updates; if your references change jobs or make other announcements, you’ll be notified and will have a chance to respond.
Sample thank-You Letter for a recommendation Letter
Don’t forget to say thank you when people spend their time sup-porting your job-search goals. It’s important to express gratitude, even when the job doesn’t work out.
Dear [recipient name],
I just wanted to thank you so much for writing such a thoughtful recommendation letter. As you know, I recently applied for the job of [position title] with Company B; it was an exciting interview process, and it came down to three candidates. The job ultimately went to someone with a few years more experience.
I remain optimistic about my job prospects as I continue my search. As you know, I’m anxious to get started in [industry], and I feel confident about two interviews I have scheduled over the next few weeks. It means so much to me to have your support during this transition period. I know your introductions and support will continue to play a significant role in helping me get invited for interviews.
If there is anything I can ever do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.
All the best, [Your name]
–Inform potentIaL referenceS aBout Your Search–
–Inform potentIaL referenceS aBout Your Search–
career Success Steps
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■ Identify three to five references who will be willing to endorse you.
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■ Ask permission to use their names and confirm their correct contact information.
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■ Provide references with updated versions of your resume and other application materials, links to your social-media profiles, and copies of job descriptions after you interview and expect them to be contacted.
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■ When a prospective employer may be following up with your references, be sure to tell them how they can help con-vince the hiring manager you’re the one for the job.
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■ Keep a list of people who are helping you and be sure to fol-low up with thank-you notes.
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■ Watch for news from people on your endorsement list so you can touch base if they have good news.
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6
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n “informational interview” is a highly focused information-gathering session with a networking contact. The goal? To help you choose or refine your career path or learn some-thing you could not otherwise uncover from online research. Ide-ally, you will access ideas and insights you might not have considered.One very important fact to remember—an informational interview has nothing to do with a job. Don’t ever ask for a job at these meet-ings. Instead, use them to open doors for conversations with key influencers or other networking contacts and to gain clarity about your search.