Including references on your resume

Including references on your resumeHave you ever wondered what the most commonly usedline on a resume is? It would have to be the alltime favorite, references available uponrequest.?There is an ongoing debate amongprofessionals about the inclusion of referenceson your resume. Some people will stronglyencourage you to include the aforementioned lineat the bottom of your resume. In a way, this letsyour potential employer know that, if asked, youcan name at least a couple of people that thinkyou are a great asset to any company. The opposingside will argue the validity of this line as it

doesnot provide any information with a call toaction; we should operate under the assumptionthat every professional with a resume will be ableto provide references from his previous employers.And yet another group of professionals will urgeyou not only to include this section in yourresume, but list anywhere from three to fivereferences, along with their titles, contactnumbers and a description of your relationship tothem. So, how do you know who to listen to?We advocate mentioning references no matter what.It is proper resume etiquette that you include asection for your references at the bottom of yourresume. This lets your potential employer knowthat you not only have professional referencesbut you understand that checking references is animportant part of your interview process.Additionally, you will want to have an employerrequest references from you so that you can letyour references know they can expect to becontacted. Listing someone as your reference on

your resume without letting them know, even ifthey have previously provided a reference for you,is not a good practice. You donot want anyone onyour reference list to be caught by surprise whenthey are contacted; you will want to let them knowabout the job you are applying for so that theyknow which qualifications they should highlightwhen they are contacted.If you are posting your resume on job search websites, such as monster.com, or are working witha head hunter to find the best opportunities foryou, it is best that you simple use the line,references available upon request?at the end ofyour resume. As indicated above, you will want tolet your references know ahead of time if theywill be contacted by a potential employer.Listing references on your resume and making itavailable to multiple employers for review mayresult in calls to your references by employersyou may not have even been in touch with directly.Obviously, you will want to avoid this kind of

annoyance to people you are using as references.You donot want to abuse your relationship withthem; therefore donot include a full listing ofreferences on your resume if you are making itavailable to masses.If you are sending a resume to a specific employer,after you have been in touch with the hiringmanager or someone at the company that will referyou for the job you are interested in, we suggestincluding references on your resume. This allowsyour potential employer to have all theinformation necessary to consider you as aserious candidate for the job. The reference listshould include the person name, their title andthe company they are working for, theirrelationship to you and their day-time telephonenumber. As a best practice, before you submit theresume, let your references know about the jobopportunity, and that you are passing along theircontact information to the potential employer.

If you have already submitted a resume withoutreferences, but are going to meet with theemployer for an interview, bring a printed copyof your resume that includes a list of references.Following a good interview, employers typicallycheck references ?as a best practice, you willwant to provide the hiring manager with aone-stop-shop of your qualifications and yourreferences, so you should always bring a printedcopy of your cover letter, your resume andreferences with you to an interview. Yourvigilance is sure to make a great impression andbring you one step closer to getting the job youwant.