One thing I wish
I had learned earlier
is how damn important
references are.
When I left my first summer jobs,
I didn’t think
to ask managers, coworkers or others
if I could use them as references.
I didn’t gather
their contact information
or keep in touch.
When I was a teenager,
it was pre-social media,
pre-everyone having a cell phone.
I bull sh*tted
by asking friends
to be my references.
Now prospective employers
look up references on social media.
Many of them
ask for the reference’s LinkedIn profile.
The higher paying the job,
the greater the number of references
requested.
A sales loved one was asked
for FIVE references
– one from two of his previous employers,
two from managers,
one from a customer.
And those references had to be glowing
or he wouldn’t have even been considered.
It takes skill to be a great reference.
Not many people have that skill.
When I left corporate
and built the Romance Novel Business,
I thought I wouldn’t need references.
I was mistaken.
Business partners want to know
about
other partners I’ve worked with
in the past,
how those people perceived me.
Product reviews are references
for other customers.
References are necessary.
Proactively collect them
and treat your references well.