A previous employer can provide the best insight into your work ethic. This will be much more legitimate to your prospective employer than if it were your friends or relatives. Clearly your mum or dad has a vested (and most probably financial) interest in furthering your career, which affects the impact of their testimonial. First, who qualifies as a professional reference? Individuals who can provide a professional reference for a job include previous employers, managers, colleagues, clients, business contacts, college instructors, and others who know your workplace skills and are willing to recommend you for the position. Employees of a company that you interned for also make good references, especially for first-time job seekers. Mentors also can offer employers insight into your career goals and desire to succeed. ... (which can be contingent on a good reference from your current job). It’s best not to use friends or family members as a referee. You’ll generally … However, if you left a company on bad terms, then it’s … A guidance counselor is a well-respected job reference as long as you interacted with him on a regular basis. Turns out, there's a right way to ask someone to be a job reference for you--and getting it wrong can actually stand in the way of you getting a job. A potential employer may need to verify your academic grades, standardized test scores, coursework or … Instead, you need to do some legwork first so that you can be sure the supervisor will provide a favorable reference to anyone who asks. The hiring process can unfold pretty quickly, so before you even start applying, make a list of anyone you might ask for a recommendation: your direct supervisors from jobs or internships, key co-workers, or even people you’ve supervised, all of whom should know you and your work well.A volunteer position can also yield excellent references. Here are five people you can include on your list of professional references if you want to land the job: 1. Sometimes this can open up opportunities you hadn’t imagined. This is because a personal reference needs to be as independent as possible under the circumstances. It’s a good idea to prepare a document listing your references so you can have them ready for employers. Mon 5 Nov 2012 04.59 EST. ... you have managed to wow your future employer at interview stage and convinced them that you are the best person for the job, it does not mean that you can get away with poorly prepared references. They will be able to speak about things you worked on together and what you achieved as a team. Who should I choose as my references? Recent graduates and other applicants looking for their first job can list former teachers as references. Job seekers will often ask a former manager, colleague, or teacher to write them a letter of reference for employment. Your list of references should include professional connections who can attest to your qualifications for the job. A great resume and solid interview skills may place job seekers in the running for a position, but a survey conducted by OfficeTeam, a leading staffing service, finds that the results of a reference check can really be what makes—or breaks—a job search..