Candidate Services
Imagine if you already knew what your former bosses thought of you before you even applied for a job. We often hear from our candidates that they would really like to know what kind of reference they are going to get. You don’t get to find out until after you have gone through an arduous process of interviews and psychometric testing. It’s a guessing game. Until now.
Reference checks are typically conducted on behalf of or by prospective employers. Only recruiters and hiring managers get to know what your bosses think of you. You stay in the dark. Because good references are an absolute must if you are going to succeed in a competitive job market. Knowing that you have good references gives you extra confidence.
So, what can you do if you know in advance what your former bosses think of you?
- You can inject achievements, accomplishments and contributions into your resume, directly from the “horse’s mouth”. No longer is it you telling employers and executive recruiters how good you are. It’s coming straight from the people to whom you reported.
- You can use direct quotes from referees in your resume which is a powerful way of establishing the credibility of your claims.
- You can get a far more candid understanding of your strengths and weaknesses than you can ever get from a formal appraisal interview.
- You can be confident that what you tell the people interviewing you will be verified by your referees.
- You can address any potential objections, issues or concerns before the employer or recruiter gets to know about them.
- You can identify any weaknesses, issues or gaps in your experience and take action to address them.
- You can decide whether to include or exclude people from your list of referees. You might think you know what they will say, but you can’t be certain. Not everyone will tell you the truth to your face. But they might to someone else.
Engaging a referencing consultant from the Howard James Referencing to conduct reference checks on your behalf can give you an enormous advantage in the highly competitive job market. Our service includes:
- Telephone consultation with you to determine what you want to find out from your referees
- Comprehensive telephone reference checks from two referees against the key requirements for the kinds of jobs for which you intend to apply and to obtain information about your key achievements or contributions.
- A written report summarising the information obtained from your referees.
- A follow up telephone discussion with our consultant to discuss and clarify issues arising from the reference checks and to provide advice on strategies to address any issues.
