{"id":24892,"date":"2013-06-11T12:15:27","date_gmt":"2013-06-11T16:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=24892"},"modified":"2013-06-12T15:03:19","modified_gmt":"2013-06-12T19:03:19","slug":"managing-your-reference-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=24892","title":{"rendered":"Managing Your References Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Managing Your References Team: a necessary soft skill
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"christina1\"<\/a>At some point in your quest for the perfect position, you will be asked to provide references. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I think of my references as my team.\u00a0<\/strong> They are a trusted group of colleagues who know my work style and achievements and are able to communicate clearly and concisely, whether by telephone or by email.\u00a0\u00a0 This latter is very important, as your references\u2019 abilities to communicate will reflect upon you during this part of the interview process.\u00a0 \u00a0My team is large and covers a range of work relationships.\u00a0 It includes co-workers, those I\u2019ve supervised and my supervisors. \u00a0The range of relationships ensures that I can provide references that are peers, colleagues or supervisors so that I can be prepared for what the interview process requires.\u00a0 Typically, interviewers want to validate your work style and qualities and prefer a supervisor to provide this information.\u00a0 But if the job requires team work and coaching, your peers can provide a better reference. If interviewing for a Library Director position, where the interviews are being conducted by a consultant or by a Library Board selection committee, references that have been Library Board members are more compelling.<\/p>\n

Picking your team of references can be time consuming, so provide yourself with lead time and contact them in advance.\u00a0<\/strong> Let them know what you\u2019ve applied for, why you feel you\u2019re perfect for the position, how their relationship with you supports these qualities\/skills and some approximate timelines for the interview.\u00a0\u00a0 This latter is very important for you may need to substitute a team member due if timetables do not mesh.\u00a0 As an interviewer, I\u2019ve asked applicants to ensure that their references are available for reference checking during a particular time, to match our interview timelines.\u00a0 You may be asked to do the same, so ensure that your references are aware of when a call might come and ensure that you have their accurate contact information.<\/p>\n

When submitting your reference list, provide relationship details, even if you are not asked.\u00a0 This demonstrates your organization skills and allows you to reinforce some of the skills highlighted in your resume or covering letter.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a sample: (I made up the name to protect privacy)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor Cantelope, PhD, School of Library and Information Sciences, Western Maritime University, London, Ont.<\/p>\n

Email:\u00a0 ccantelope@uwmto.ca<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 555-555-6780<\/p>\n

Dr. Mustard was my professor for three classes, Reference, Research Skills and Statistical Analysis.\u00a0 She can speak to my strong academic standards and quality work completed on individual and group assignments. \u00a0Dr. Mustard was my academic advisor for my major paper, \u2018Digital Libraries\u2019 which was selected for presentation at the SLIS Forum for Information Professionals, January, 2013.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve got your full reference team, keep them updated<\/strong> as part of your ongoing career management process.\u00a0 This means communicating with them from time to time in person, via email or over the telephone.\u00a0\u00a0 You cannot guarantee that everyone reads your updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites as assiduously as you post them.\u00a0 Moreover, keeping your team informed is a professional courtesy owed to your reference team for providing you with a professional favour.\u00a0 Make it easy for them to speak well and accurately of you in regards to your career, achievements and other professional activities.\u00a0 Typically reference checking takes place after the first interview, providing you with additional information to pass along to your references in support of your attributes for the position being sought.\u00a0 This also encourages your reference team members to contact and provide their impressions of how the reference checking went and how they felt you were being perceived.<\/p>\n

I find that conferences, social events, meetings are great opportunities for keeping my reference team in the loop.\u00a0<\/strong> It\u2019s also a time to begin recruiting additional members of the team.\u00a0\u00a0 These personal contact points offer the chance to thank my reference team through other gestures such as buying them a refreshment, lunch or dinner. \u00a0\u00a0Volunteers can never be thanked enough for their time, ideas and effort.\u00a0 Thanking them appropriately is more than a courtesy.\u00a0 It\u2019s their due! It also helps you both model, and practice, excellence in working with people.\u00a0 It\u2019s a \u201csoft skill\u201d that goes a long way in any career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Christina Wilson, Head Editor, INALJ Alberta Managing Your References Team: a necessary soft skill At some point in your quest for the perfect position, you will be asked to provide references. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I think of my references as my team.\u00a0 They are a trusted group of colleagues who know my work style and achievements and…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[233,3592,3974,3666,216,4525],"class_list":["post-24892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-articles-2","tag-blog","tag-christina-wilson","tag-inalj-alberta","tag-interviews","tag-references"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/christina1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-6tu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}