Tips for Grads: Curating your professional references
Career Development
As a grad student that will soon be applying for a new job opportunity, compiling and updating your professional reference list before it’s needed is essential to eliminating unnecessary stress during the job search.
Here are some tips to keep your reference list polished and ready for that next opportunity:
Build good relationships. Building a good reference list is first and foremost about building good relationships. Whether you’d like to ask a current or former supervisor, coworker, or another professional contact to serve as a reference, you’ll need to keep in touch so they can provide an accurate representation of your abilities.
Seek out a supervisor. You likely don’t have to include your current supervisor, but you should include someone from a supervisory role on your list. If a potential employer would like your current supervisor to be a reference, contact the hiring manager and see if they will accept another supervisory reference.
Use volunteer experience. Those who know you from your volunteer work can make great professional references and may speak about your skills in new or different ways. Ask if someone from a nonprofit you volunteered for will serve as a reference, and then be sure to include your volunteer role on your resume.
Practice good etiquette. Always ask others if they’re willing to serve as a professional reference, let them know why you’re asking, and find out how they prefer to be contacted. Tailor your reference list to the job you’re seeking, listing references in order of importance.
