Any prepared job hunter will walk into an interview with extra copies of his or her resume, a notebook, and references. References are a critical part of the job searching process, and they're equally important on both sides. Any prepared interviewer will ask you for references, and make sure to call and see what your references say about you.
Of course, one presumes that even the least prepared job hunter has someone in mind for a reference who will say something nice about him or her. Recruiters and employers fully expect that you, as the interviewee, are not going to be dumb enough to give a reference for someone who will only have bad things to say. There's also a number of companies whose policies are limited to confirming dates of employment and nothing else, so the value to a reference is not always that great, but it's still a critical step to check. Because, in my experience at least, most people do have more to say than that, and oftentimes you can learn more about the personality of the interviewee when he or she is not on his or her very best interview behaviour.
As a job hunter, make sure you pick your references carefully. A supervisor is always ideal, provided he or she can tell someone what makes you wonderful. Just make sure you ask in advance, and try to feel out what he or she might have to say about you and your work.
I've seen a lot of employers skip the reference check altogether. Sure, they'll ask for a copy of your references, but then it never goes any further than that, and a hiring decision is made before references are called at all. In my opinion, this is a mistake. Just because you presume someone's references are preselected to show their best side (and they probably are) doesn't mean that you won't learn anything valuable from the call. Oftentimes, if this step is skipped, it is because there is a rush to fill the position and the candidate seems perfectly qualified, or because the hiring manager or recruiter is under a time crunch and has other priorities. Nevertheless, the reference check is an important step in the hiring process, and most of the time, it really doesn't take very long, and it might just change your hiring decision.
Do you check references? Why or why not?
