An article in today’s Wall Street Journal offers advice on “bulletproofing” your references in your quest for a new job. The piece offers some solid advice, like innovate ways to stay in touch with those contacts you’re hoping will sing your praises, keeping track of previous employers and colleagues through Google Alerts to congratulate them and let them know they’re in your thoughts and on your radar, and not burying yourself by referring an ex ex ex boss who may not even remember you. Some of the tips seemed a little off the mark, like keeping a solid bank of a dozen references. That’s a bit excessive. But over all, the article was well done.

What surprised me were the many comments posted that felt to the contrary on the author’s information. Several readers spoke up and expressed their belief that references no longer matter or are “of no value.” With many years under my belt in this industry, I couldn’t help but respond to this strange consensus. Here’s what I had to say:

“As a recruiter and an on-line career advice columnist, issues surrounding references come up frequently. While I agree that 12 references may be excessive, I do believe references have value. Everyone assumes a candidate can put together a list of references that will be give him or her high marks. Surprise, that’s not always the case. A good recruiter or HR executive can probe and find areas of weakness that may be problematic for the candidate. At the same time, candidates should anticipate off-the- record calls regarding their performance at past employers. Calls might be made by the recruiter, HR, or the hiring manager and, in my experience, this is a common procedure. Candidates can be better prepared if they do some research on who anyone of these 3 stakeholders might know from their current or past job.”

So, while I agree that some of the advice in this article should be taken with a grain of salt, I think it’s dangerous to be under the impression that no one is checking into your past.

-Bev

Illustration by Dusan Petricic for the Wall Street Journal.