What used to be a vital requirement has now become a debatable inclusion. Should you include references on your CV? The short answer is no – not the details at least.
Why? Firstly, references are not required early in the recruitment process, when you need to send your CV. No one will look for a reference before you’ve been called for an interview and you may have several stages of interviews to go through before you reach a stage where a potential employer will look for references. Simply adding the line: “References available on request” will suffice.
While some jobseekers might still think that having CV references will somehow make their application more robust, but there are actually several reasons to leave your references off your CV that stretch beyond simple not needing them yet.
Generally, your CV shouldn’t be longer than two pages and you’re going to want to use all of that space demonstrating your skills, experience and attributes that make you the perfect candidate for the job. And under no circumstances should you allow references on a CV to bump it up to a third page.
While you could argue that you only need a line or two to squeeze in those references, think about how you’re going to format them. If you are barely squeezing them in, it will show in your CV layout and could make it look less impressive. Is it really worth it for an element that a hiring manager won’t even look for at this point?
Your choice of references may seem obvious when filling out your application, but you’d be surprised about how this choice might change depending on how your interviews go. For example, you might be able to figure out what particular skills or experience the hiring manager is particularly interesting and you may have a reference in your arsenal that will best be able to speak to your abilities in this area.
Generally, the more recent references the better, but hiring managers will also like to hear from references who will be able to talk about your most relevant skills and holding off until they request these at interview stage – or even job offer stage – will put you in the bet position to give them what they want.
Most hiring managers will not contact your references on your CV without telling you, but why run that risk by putting their contact details on your CV? Leaving your references out of the conversation until they are requested gives you the chance to give them the heads up and asking permission to include them at all.
It also means you get the chance to ask the potential employer not to contract your current employer until you’ve handed in your notice. Getting a call for a job reference when you haven’t told them you’re leaving makes for an awkward meeting.
There’s an ongoing debate about the value of job references. For a start, due to the legalities around defamation, supplying a bad reference that could result in a job offer being rescinded can be troublesome for employers, which has led to many simply offering a ‘statement of employment’, which offers no insight into a candidate. On the flip side, manager could give good references because they’re happy to see the back of particular candidates.
While desires to get rid of you or receiving bad references are not necessarily something you need to worry about, it’s worth knowing that many hiring managers and recruiters now take references with a pinch of salt.
It’s far more important for candidates to showcase their talents and skills through a well-crafted CV and further proving their abilities with demonstrable and provable examples in an interview. Good strong references are a great addition to your application, and yes, a bad reference can affect your job offer. But before you’re actually asked for a reference, focus on getting your CV into the best shape it can be and working on your STAR technique for answering questions.
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Written with contributions from the RECRUITERS team
Phone photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
