There comes a point in your life when you either start or decide to look for a new step in your career. This would require you to work on your CV. Although all parts of a CV should be up to date and impress, the importance of references on a cv is debatable.
What are references?
References, often called referees, are individuals who have experience working with you in a professional environment and are able to offer insight into your capabilities and personal characteristics.
They can be contacted by recruiters to give an objective opinion on a candidate in regard to their skillset and suitability for a vacancy.
Should I mention references on my CV?
The necessity of references depends on the vacancy itself. If a company clearly states that you have to add references to your cv, then you do not have a choice. However, if they do not request this, then it would be better if you leave it out.
Recruiters prefer a compact cv no more than 2 pages, so you have to be efficient with space. In addition, it would more advantageous to use it in the later stages of the application process. Listing references can be useful if you lack work experience and want to fill in the blank spaces on your CV.
Starting January 1, 2020, those thresholds are:
- More than $684 per week; or
- Over $35,568 a year
A separate rule proposed during the Obama-era would have roughly doubled the previous level, requiring employers to pay overtime to salaried employees unless they make:
- More than $913 per week; or
- Over $47,476 a year
That raised cap would have made over 4 million more salaried workers eligible for overtime.
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Pro’s & Con’s of adding References
Adding references to your cv offers different advantages. One of the major benefits is that it provides credibility to your cv. A candidate that has a reference on his/her cv that can support claims about specific skills will be more believable than a candidate that does not have references.
In addition, if your reference is someone well known in the industry or has an admirable position in an organisation, it could impress the recruiter. However, adding references could be disadvantageous as well.
As mentioned before, adding references will require space and this might be scarce if you have a decent amount of experience. It could also be considered unnecessary considering that you are only at the beginning of the application process.
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Should I mention references on my CV?
The necessity of references depends on the vacancy itself. If a company clearly states that you have to add references to your cv, then you do not have a choice. However, if they do not request this, then it would be better if you leave it out.
A separate rule proposed during the Obama-era would have roughly doubled the previous level, requiring employers to pay overtime to salaried employees unless they make:
- More than $913 per week; or
- Over $47,476 a year
That raised cap would have made over 4 million more salaried workers eligible for overtime.
Type of references
It is highly likely that you worked with other individuals professionally throughout the years. These individuals could be:
- Your employer
As mentioned before, the recruiter will contact a referee to question your competences and personality. A co-worker with a superior role over you can be a great referee because they can vouch for your dependability and punctuality. - Your colleague
Someone who worked with you on a project can be a perfect fit to back up your claims as they have personal experience in witnessing your capabilities and personality. Especially if you had a higher position than your co-worker, because they can support claims about your managerial capabilities. - Your employer
As mentioned before, the recruiter will contact a referee to question your competences and personality. A co-worker with a superior role over you can be a great referee because they can vouch for your dependability and punctuality.
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Do’s and don’ts mentioning references
Besides all the information given above, it is also important to consider the following:
- do order your references alphabetically
- do thank them if you got the job
- do keep in touch with your referees from time to time
- do tailor your references to the relevance of the vacancy
- don’t add someone as a reference who had a bad experience with you
- don't add an outdated reference to your cv. Unless you do not have enough job experience, you do not need to use your first employer as a referee
- don’t make your reference list too long. Try to write down three to a maximum of five references.
- don’t write down “references upon request” as this is completely unnecessary. Recruiters are aware that they can ask for references when they need someone to support your claims.
