A professional reference is a recommendation from a person who can vouch for your qualifications for a job. A professional reference for an experienced worker is typically a former employer, a colleague, a client, a vendor, a supervisor, or someone else who can recommend you for employment.
A letter of recommendation (or reference letter) is a document designed to add extra weight and merit to a job or college application. They are usually written by a supervisor, colleague, teacher, or friend.
For example, if you are writing a reference for a job applicant, some or all of these details may be appropriate: The person's job title, and role within the company. The person's leaving salary when they were last employed by you (or your organisation). The dates which the person was employed from and until.
What to Include on a Reference List. When you provide a list of professional references to an employer, you should include: Your name at the top of the page. List your references, including their name, job title, company, and contact information, with a space in between each reference.
According to Wikipedia: Letters of recommendation are very specific in nature and normally requested/required and are always addressed to an individual, whereas letters of reference are more general in nature and are usually addressed "To Whom It May Concern".
References belong in a list of references and that is the only place they belong. A letter of recommendation is exactly what it sounds like. If an employer asks for one, they want someone to write a letter explaining why you're awesome and should be hired.
Reference letters give future employers a way to gain insight into a candidate's background and capabilities. A solid, well-written letter gives a potential employer more information than they would normally obtain by simply calling the company's human resources department.
Do employers always check references? Essentially, yes. While it's true that not 100% of Human Resources (HR) departments will call your references during pre-employment screening, many do. If you're about to begin a job search, you should expect to have your references checked.
Listing someone as a reference without asking first
It's necessary to ask first before listing someone as a reference. If you don't ask, there's a chance the person might give a bad reference. If you are unsure how to ask for a reference, you can use email if you like. However, asking in person can help.Here's our list of the 10 of the best questions to ask when checking references:
- Can you verify the job candidate's employment, job title, pay, and responsibilities?
- How do you know the job candidate?
- What makes the candidate a good fit for this job?
- If you had the opportunity, would you re-hire this job candidate?
Remember this: When a hiring company makes a call to your references, it's almost always a good sign—so you can breathe easy. A reference check typically means a hiring manager is near-ready to extend an offer to a candidate, and they want one final confirmation that you are the right fit for their team, Foss says.
A professional reference is a recommendation from a person who can vouch for your qualifications for a job. A professional reference for an experienced worker is typically a former employer, a colleague, a client, a vendor, a supervisor, or someone else who can recommend you for employment.
What employers want from job references
- Description of past job duties and experience: 36%
- A view into the applicant's strengths and weaknesses: 31%
- Confirmation of job title and dates of employment: 11%
- Description of workplace accomplishments: 8%
- A sense of the applicant's preferred work culture: 7%
- Other/don't know: 7%
What to Include on a Reference List
- Include the reference's full contact information. List their full name, title, and company in addition to their street address, phone, and email.
- Check for accuracy.
- Add a title to the page.
- Include your contact information.
A typical letter of recommendation is one page in length, but some may be up to two pages. Letters that are handwritten or typed using a typewriter are generally not seen as being as professional. Letters should always be on official College letterhead, preferably department letterhead.
Don't ask someone to lie; you should aim for a truthful reference. Don't ever forge signatures. Your recommendation letter must be genuine. Don't be surprised if the person you are asking for a recommendation letter asks you to write a letter that they will later modify and sign.
End the recommendation letter with a couple sentences at most. They should clearly summarize the information that was provided in the assessment part of the letter. Begin the final one or two sentences by saying "in summary," "in closing," or "accordingly." Follow this by a comma and close as concisely as possible.
What is the format for a letter of recommendation?
- Date.
- Dear Sir/Madam.
- State who you are recommending and for what.
- Describe the capacity in which you know them.
- List their most applicable qualities/traits.
- Conclude by confidently recommending them.
- Yours sincerely.
