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How to Increase Your Chances of a Good Job Reference.

1. Make sure your records are correct. Occasionally an interviewee looks bad because a former Human Resources department did not have the same job dates, title or salary information in their files as what was found on a resume. Data entry or communications errors are not unusual, so check with your former HR department to ensure that its records correspond to yours. Conflicting data will be perceived as a big negative to a prospective employer and may cost you that great new job.

2. Maintain active and positive relationships with your references. Stay in touch over the phone or over coffee. Keep the reference up-to-date about your career, and make sure you have the most up-to-date job information about them. It does not look good to a prospective employer if the reference's title (or name) has changed, or if they have left a position and you have provided old information to the prospective employer.

3. Advise a reference about an important opportunity. To avoid burning out your references, you do not need to call them about every single job opportunity. However, if a particular position is very important or appealing to you, call references and give them details about what the company may be looking for from you and make sure your references are up to date with any new skill sets you may have acquired.

4. Know reporting relationships. Even though you have given the senior vice president's name as a reference, the prospective employer may resort to calling the director you reported to because they cannot reach the senior executive. Even though you may not have given that person's name as a reference, it is on the application that you probably filled out. You may want to advise your former boss about the potential reference check and explain why the company is interested in you.

5. Know your former company's reference policy. Although federal law restricts reference information, some states now allow more extensive disclosure. Know which regulations and policies govern your company. In addition, be aware that some employees will break company policy because giving a reference can be very emotional. Make sure this works in your favor by checking with references to gain an understanding of what they might say.

6. Don't rely on relatives or letters of recommendation. You are well advised not to let Uncle John regale a prospective employer about your antics as a youth. Also, although letters of recommendation can be helpful, information such as titles and even names can change over time. Make sure that the information on any letter of recommendation is correct by contacting the reference periodically.

7. Use a professional reference-checking service. If you want help in providing good references or if you find that you are losing too many job opportunities after several interviews, you might want to commission a professional reference-checking service. Check to ensure that the service has the professional and legal personnel that can develop a strategic use of your references. Typical service fees range from $69 to $99 per reference checked, depending on level of job position being sought.

Allison & Taylor, Inc. is headquartered in Michigan. The firm operates http://www.jobreferences.com and http://www.allisontaylor.com and has been checking references for individuals since 1984. Its services have been listed and recommended in best-selling books by Martin Yate, http://www.knockemdead.com. In addition, numerous articles have been published about the Allison & Taylor reference-checking service in magazines and newspapers across the country. For more information, please visit http://www.jobreferences.com or http://www.allisontaylor.com or call 800.651.2460.

SOURCE Allison & Taylor, Inc.