References - best options? (employment, average, application, profit)

[cloud8]

When you have to give references, who do you normally use? Old bosses? Peers? People that worked under you? People from school? Personal (if it's allowed)? Do you have a mix that you think is best?

[statisticsnerd]

The best reference: A friend that you trust who you know will say nothing but positive things about you, but have him pretend that he is your former supervisor. Just put down his cell phone number on the application and say that the number belongs to your old boss.

[groar]

Always bosses unless the prospective employer requests personal or peer references, or asks for more references than you can give with just bosses. I don't agree that you should have friends pretend to be supervisors, but you should contact people before using them as references, both to give them a heads up and to check that they will give you a positive reference if you're not sure.

My current employer has a no reference policy and I worked at a lot of places that are now closed, so my references are:

My last boss
A board member from my last job
My main contact at the temp agency where I used to work - it was a long time ago but we are still in touch and she thought I was the best temp ever.
My contact at the nonprofit that funded a community project I headed.

I also offered performance reviews and a coworker as a reference for my current job.

[Teckeeee]

Originally Posted by statisticsnerd

The best reference: A friend that you trust who you know will say nothing but positive things about you, but have him pretend that he is your former supervisor. Just put down his cell phone number on the application and say that the number belongs to your old boss.

That's great. One little problem. What happens when their linkedin profile doesn't match what you said

[ccm123]

It depends what type of references the company specifically asks for. Some will ask for former bosses, peers, colleagues, customers, etc

[nifear]

Originally Posted by ccm123

It depends what type of references the company specifically asks for. Some will ask for former bosses, peers, colleagues, customers, etc

Agree. If it's not specified, I usually just use former bosses/supervisors. In the past though, I have been asked to provide references from former co-workers/peers, subordinates, collaborators.

[bUU]

Former bosses is the gold standard for employment references. In my experience and that of my spouse, comments like, "I wish I could have kept him/her," or "I would hire him/her back in a minute," essentially end the reference check, moving the candidate on to the next step.

[jobaba]

Former bosses and professors.

I've used peers from work before but it's pretty weak. You should be able to get someone who is above you.

Peers from school? Lol. "Yea. I'm Joe from Jim's accounting class. He's the best thing since sliced bread!"

To be honest, the whole reference system is pretty weak. In my experience, as long as you're not a f@ck up or have a confrontational attitude, most bosses are nice enough people to give you a pretty glowing reference whether you performed average or even slightly below.

[lurtsman]

When I'm doing recruiting, I only care about references when I can verify that the person providing the reference is not a dumb***. In the absence of that, I base my review on the actual candidates. Unfortunately, I believe I am in the minority. Most people working in HR are convinced they are doing it right, and that calling someone they have never met who claims to be a supervisor at some company where this person supposedly worked is the ideal way to know if he's the right person.

[cowherjaw]

Old bosses and peers with strong titles are best. If it's for a management position, I refer people to my Linked In profile and they can read what people I have managed say about me.