Articles

New look at the list of references

by Duda Trickovic, Head Editor, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick

New look at the list of references

When you are looking for job, list of references is a standard part of the hiring process. It is almost impossible to get a job if you don’t have a good reference. As I was conducting my job search, I stumbled upon this web site. Allison & Taylor (http://www.allisontaylor.com/)  company is specialised in a professional reference checking and employment verification.

Allison & Taylor on their web site offers several examples of a new way to present your references to the prospect employer; Samplereferencelist (http://www.allisontaylor.com/sample-teacher-reference-list.asp).

As you can see in the samplereferencelist, reference sheet can also be used as another way tell your future employer about some of your great achievements. Apart from the usual information, like name of the person, title, and the company name, this reference sheet also includes a description of your work relationship, as well as q short example of your accomplishments in that particular position. This kind of a reference sheet is used as another vehicle for promoting your skills. It also shows that you are serious about this job opportunity, and willing to go that extra mile to make the most of every point of communication. According to Allison & Taylor web site, this kind of reference list is not commonly used format, but it makes sense.

Another advantage of this kind of reference sheet is that with this your prospective employer knows what to expect when they talk to your references. By providing this info on your reference sheet you are being proactive, and making a job of your prospective employer easier. In other words you are taking advantage of every opportunity to make a best impression. In today’s extremely competitive job market, this is a very effective way to set yourself apart from the other candidates.

I also want to mention that Allison & Taylor (http://www.allisontaylor.com/)  web site is worth checking out. Another service this company offers is a job reference checking for the people looking for a job. This is a way for the job applicants to find out what their references are actually saying about them before applying for the job. Good reference is a last step in getting a position you want.

Naomi House

Naomi House, MLIS, is the founder and publisher of the popular webzine and jobs list INALJ.com (formerly I Need a Library Job) and former CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of T160K.org, a crowdfunding platform focused on African patrimony, heritage and cultural projects. INALJ was founded in October 2010 with the assistance of her fellow Rutgers classmate, Elizabeth Leonard. Its social media presence has grown to include Facebook (retired in 2016), Twitter and a LinkedIn group, in addition to the interviews, articles and jobs found on INALJ. INALJ has had over 21 Million page hits and helped many, many thousands of librarians find employment! Through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and a real focus on exploring unconventional resources for job leads, INALJ grew from a subscription base of 20 friends to a website with over 500,000 visits in one month. Naomi believes that well-sourced quantity is quality in this narrow job market and INALJ reflects this with many new jobs published daily. She has also written for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 LexisNexis Government Info Pro and many other publications in the past decade. She presents whenever she can, including serving on three panels at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Las Vegas; as breakout presenter at OCLC EMEA in Cape Town, South Africa; as a keynote speaker at the Virginia Library Association annual meeting; at the National Press Club in Washington DC; McGill University in Montreal, Canada; the University of the Emirates, Dubai, MLIS program and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Naomi was a Reference, Marketing and Acquisitions Librarian for a contractor at a federal library outside Washington, DC, and has been living and working in Budapest, Hungary and Western New York State. She spent years running her husband’s moving labor website, fixed and sold old houses and assisted her husband cooking delicious Pakistani food. She is preparing to re-enter the workforce and is job hunting. Her husband is now the co-editor of INALJ, a true support!  She has heard of spare time but hasn’t encountered it lately. She pronounces INALJ as eye-na-elle-jay. 

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