Employment References

Who should I use as a reference?

A good reference helps an employer learn more about your skills, work ethic, and experience, and strengthen your application for a job or internship.

Choose someone who knows you well and can speak about what you bring to the workplace. This could be an instructor, advisor, supervisor, volunteer coordinator, coach or club advisor.

Avoid using family members or friends as professional references.

Before listing a reference

Always ask permission before sharing someone’s name and contact information with an employer. Let your reference know what you’re applying for and give them information that will help them speak about your qualifications.

Consider sharing:

The job or internship description

Your current resume
The application deadline
Skills or experiences that relate to the opportunity
Your career goals

Make sure you have their current contact information and remember to thank them for their help.

What can a reference share?

References can speak about things they have personally observed, such as your reliability, communication, teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, work ethic, projects and technical skills.

Western employees cannot share protected educational information, such as grades, GPA, transcripts, schedules, student IDs or disciplinary records.