The 3 R’s of Career Life Blood: Reputation, Referrals and References

It’s ironic that the life blood of most businesses is the same life blood of most careers. You’ve guessed it folks, as a small business owner of a growing resume writing company, I can tell you that referrals and references are priceless. Testimonies (testimonials) included. But for job seekers referrals and references can be the difference between getting the job and making more money or not getting the job and being upset.

Do you know the number one way to get a job? It’s not Monster, LinkedIn, Indeed or CareerBuilder. It’s the referral. Over 56% of all jobs are filled through referrals. Companies love referrals because it saves them a ton of time and money in the recruitment process and a referred candidates has a higher chance of being a long-term successful employee.

I love referrals, companies love referrals, you love to be referred - its a win, win!

The first rule to being referred is not networking, no! It’s being good. You have to be good at what you do and you have to be a good person.

Networking is important but it’s about more than connecting online, it’s about building relationships which are two-ways streets, this means there is some quid pro quo but not the in the sexual sense; just simply stating that any relationship works best when both parties can be a benefit or help to each other.

When you are in your twenties you believe that you are invincible and will never have a tough time, and so you tend to take advantage of relationship and maybe not treat everyone so great. But fast forward 10, 15 or 20 years and you get laid off or fired, what happens now, when some of the people you treated so poorly are in better positions than you? As the old saying goes “Be careful how you treat folks on the way because they are the same ones you see on the way down.”

Recently a couple of clients mentioned that people from their past have referred them for new positions now. Luckily these clients had good reputations and relationships so when these old contacts had openings they felt good about referring them and acting as references.

Protect your reputation, don’t be a jerk now because you know who could be in a position to help you in the future.

Reputation, Referrals and References…your career lifeblood.

 

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