Finding Acceptable References
Ask former instructors. If you're a student or recent graduate, ask yourself if there are any teachers or professors who would be willing to attest to your good work ethic. While you're in school, your education is essentially your "job," so performing well in school can show prospective employers you can perform well in the workplace. When choosing a teacher or professor, consider three things: how familiar you are to the instructor, how well you did in the instructor's class, and how much effort you put into the instructor's class. Ideally, you should have put a good amount of effort into the class and received a good grade as a result. If you struggled with the subject even though you worked hard, however, the class instructor may still be a good choice as long as that instructor is aware of how hard you worked at improvement. A teacher who knows you personally will likely be more eager to provide a reference than one who barely knows you at all, but an indifferent teacher would be a better option than one with whom you have a bad relationship.
Talk to a coach. If you've participated in any sports, either through school or within the community, consider asking your current or former coach. Even though the job may not involve any skills you learned on the playing field, potential employers will still be interested in the work ethic you demonstrated while practicing and playing. Don't worry if you weren't the best player. As long as you demonstrated a sincere effort to improve your skills and work within the team, your coach should still be willing to consider a positive recommendation. On the other hand, if you have great natural ability but showed poor team effort while playing, your coach may actually have less positive things to tell a potential employer.
Consult an advisor. Both academic advisors and club advisors are fair game as long as they've witnessed your work ethic. Think about your options and choose the individual who likely has the most positive opinion. If you're in college or recently graduated college, you probably have an academic advisor who worked with you at various points throughout your college career. This individual essentially served as an informal "supervisor" to your academic work, so potential employers would be interested in your academic advisor's opinion. Like coaches, extracurricular club advisors can let potential employers know how hard you work even without an award (like a grade). Consider the nature of the club before using your club advisors, though. A formal club (like yearbook or newspaper) would likely mean more than a casual club (like a book club).
Contact volunteer coordinators. If you've done any volunteer work, consider asking the volunteer coordinator to serve as a reference. This works best if you interacted with the coordinator directly while volunteering and took your volunteer work seriously. The exact nature of your volunteer work probably won't matter much, but formal opportunities (e.g., soup kitchens, community programs) will be stronger points of reference than informal opportunities (e.g., mowing the neighbor's lawn for free).
Use your mentor. Career mentors are somewhat uncommon, but if you have one, that individual can be a good source to use as a job reference. A mentor is essentially someone who has already walked the career path you plan to follow. Someone is only considered a mentor in formal terms if you've worked closely with that individual to shape your own career goals and learn about the work you'd like to do. Ask yourself if you've shown your mentor how serious you are about your work. Ideally, you should communicate with this individual about topics like training, job opportunities, and related education at least once every few months.
Contact an internship supervisor. If you've ever done an internship, the person who coordinated the internship or supervised your work during the internship might be able to provide you with a good reference. As with any reference, you should opt for someone who has seen your work ethic directly. If you've worked multiple internships, ask the supervisor who would likely have the most to say about your work ethic, even if the type of work you did during that internship is less directly related to the job you're applying for.
Think about any odd jobs you've done. If you have informal work experience babysitting, pet-sitting, or mowing lawns, consider asking your happy customers to be references. This can be an especially good option if you're a teenager or young college student. Try to find someone who isn't related to you. A reference from your neighbor will probably seem more objective to potential employers than one from your parent, aunt, uncle, or grandparent.
Evaluating Possible References
Choose references who know your work ethic. Anyone you choose as a reference should be someone who has witnessed your work ethic and has good things to say about it. Avoid references who only know you socially. Potential employers are mostly interested in knowing about your work-related qualities, so people who can talk about these qualities are ideal. Character references are better than nothing if you are unable to find professional references, but you should only rely on character references as a last resort. Try to pick someone who might seem objective, like a religious leader, over someone who has a personal relationship with you, like a relative or friend.
Stick with positive references. Before picking a reference, think carefully about what this individual might say about you. You want to show a potential employer that you'll be an asset to the job, and to do that, you'll need references who agree with that opinion. Avoid references who don't get along with you, even if the conflict is only personal. In other words, don't pick a teacher who dislikes you, even if you get straight A's in that teacher's class. Think about the qualities you've demonstrated to your potential reference. This individual should be able to talk about traits like responsibility, integrity, initiative, productivity, and leadership ability.
Ask yourself how well the reference knows you. Even though professional references are key, the people you pick as references should also know who you are on an individual level. You'll need to pick people who know you by name and can recall who you are without needing to consult written records. For instance, a professor you communicate with daily or weekly would probably be a better option than an internship supervisor you only met once.
Be as recent as possible. Simply put, your references will need to remember who you are. Teachers, volunteer coordinators, and coaches interact with a lot of people. Someone you haven't seen in five or ten years may not remember enough about you to adequately describe who you are to a potential employer. Furthermore, potential employers may frown upon the lack of recent references and wonder why you don't have anyone more recent to mention. This probably won't be an issue if you're in your teens (unless you're using your kindergarten teacher as a reference!) but it is something to keep in mind if you're already an adult.
Improving Your Odds
Aim for three to five references. You should always provide more than one reference, but avoid giving potential employers several pages of references. Aim for three to five solid, reliable references. Since finding good references can be difficult when you don't have prior work experience, it might be tempting to bulk up the list with less reliable references, but this isn't a good idea. Mediocre or bad references will detract from anything positive your good references might say.
Ask your references for permission. Before using someone as a reference, make sure you have that person's permission. Doing so will give your references adequate time to prepare a solid recommendation when they get the call from your potential employer. Also keep in mind that some people will not be comfortable with serving as a reference, and it's important to find this out beforehand. Even when someone is willing to be a reference, asking permission will likely reaffirm his or her positive opinion about you. Getting a surprise call from a potential employer, on the other hand, may taint the reference with negativity.
Include the necessary contact information. For each reference, try to provide a full name, email address, phone number, and mailing address. You can use either personal or business information, but make sure you find out which your reference would be more comfortable with. Make sure any contact information you have is current, too. Providing an address or phone number that is no longer in use will reflect poorly to potential employers.
Provide your references when asked. Be ready to write in references if the job application asks for them, but don't attach a list of references if it doesn't (unless those references are already included on your resume or CV). If a potential employer seriously considers hiring you, that employer will ask for your references at the appropriate time. That being said, have your references ready when you fill out the application or attend a job interview. Even if your potential employer doesn't ask for the information, it's a good idea to have it ready just in case.
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