The Power of Reference Letters

By Jeremy Sherk

The truth is, you can have the best resume in the world, but if you don’t have anyone else backing you up, what you say won’t carry nearly as much weight and will be much harder to believe for the employer.

This is where reference letters come in. I can’t stress the importance of them enough. An amazing resume with four to five solid reference letters from past employers saying how great you are is incredibly powerful, it makes what you say much more concrete and believable.

One thing to remember regarding reference letters is you can never have enough. Get as many as you can and add to the collection whenever possible. If you had nothing for a resume and simply submitted some killer reference letters, that would definitely be more persuasive then a resume with no reference letters.

Several people all consistently saying great things about you is infinitely more powerful than you tooting your own horn.

Right now you might be thinking, “Sure, I’ve performed pretty good at previous jobs, but how can I go back after not working there for months and get the employer to say good things about me?”

First of all, if you’ve left any past jobs on bad terms, use your best judgment as to whether or not you want to return and pursue a letter of reference from them. If you had a great working relationship with a previous employer they should have no problem writing one for you.

One strategy you can also employ is writing it yourself and taking it to the employer to sign. This is an excellent strategy as managers are usually very busy. Write up two to three different templates and give them a choice if necessary. Ask them to look it over and once they agree ask for their permission to print it off on the official letterhead of the establishment and have them sign it.

Of course, in most cases (if you were a good employee) your past employer will be willing to write you a letter of reference. If so, then by all means let them do it as it’ll be more genuine that way. Use my “writing it yourself” technique as a backup strategy only in those instances when you’re needing it fast and you can’t count on the busy past employer to get it to you when you need it.

I have a nice stack of solid reference letters I include with my resume. After each job, another one is written and added to the collection. Start building your collection today, it’s the best investment you can make for your future.

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