The use of the Internet has undoubtedly simplified the work of human resources managers. In fact, more and more often, the employees of the selections request to send the references together with the curriculum; in this way, those who have the task of choosing candidates do not have to wait for the interview to find out more about their previous work experience. In some cases, instead, the references are requested directly when the candidate is summoned to a cognitive meeting. Nevertheless, it can be extremely useful to have your references always ready to be sent. Are you wondering how to include references in your resume? Take a look at the tips offered in this guide to learn more.
How to get the right references?
Before asking yourself how to include references in your resume, you should identify the right people to refer to. In fact, not all employers, colleagues and professors will be able to provide you with references in the time allowed to send the application; likewise, not everyone will write a presentation that can describe you as you would like. For this reason, try to contact as many people as possible and collect as many letters of recommendation. Obviously you need to focus your attention on the people you believe have a good judgment of you. Whether it is a teacher or a supervisor, mutual esteem and trust are extremely important. Reflect on your previous experiences and achievements: who could offer a valid testimony of your skills, of your brilliant personality or your dedication to work? Do you know the coach of your team or the president of the association you’re volunteering for? Anyone who has had the opportunity to work by your side can describe your potential and the qualities that make you different from all the other candidates.
Letters of recommendation must be specific and detailed. Ask your contacts, therefore, to focus attention on your best skills and the positive traits of your character. Have you always respected the deadlines and followed the instructions to the letter? Have you always arrived on time for appointments? Here are some peculiarities that deserve to be mentioned in a letter of recommendation.
What references to include in the curriculum?
To make a successful application, you don’t have to worry about just how to include references in your resume, but above all which references to choose. If you have been lucky enough to receive several letters of recommendation that you find interesting, you will still need to select three or four. It is advisable, in fact, to avoid overloading the curriculum by citing dozens of contacts: try to focus your attention on those most relevant to the selection.
A criterion of choice could be the credibility and the role of the person who wrote the letter: the opinion of a principal, for example, will inevitably be more authoritative than that of a teammate. At the same time, try to collect the most varied testimonies: a teacher, an employer and a coach will offer three different perspectives on your profile.
After selecting the references, contact each person personally to thank them for their availability and to ask for confirmation of the phone number or email address to be included in the curriculum.
How to include references in the curriculum?
References should always be entered on a separate page. As far as possible, therefore, try to dedicate the first page to education, work experience and skills, using instead the second page for references.
You can insert the title “References” to indicate that the contacts shown are those of the people available to provide references. For each contact, include the person’s name, title, company, email address and phone number, possibly specifying whether it is a private number or a business number.
As it happens for the other sections of the curriculum, also that of the references must be customized based on the reference job position. In other words, you must choose the references that can highlight the requirements required to perform that particular job. If you still have doubts about how to include references in your resume, use the handy CV builder.
