When you’re out to land a good job, you feel secure armed with a handful of references. But what if you don’t have any? It’s you first job, or you have had a long pause and your references dated badly. You may feel precarious without the support of references, and your prospective employer is sure to have questions about the omission. Though it’s a definite disadvantage, you can find ways to settle the matter, and here are some tips you can make use of.
Get Reference from Your College Professor
Why not approach your college professor or teacher for a reference? They are not employers, granted, but they are people well qualified for issuing this sort of things. They can write meaningfully about your working abilities and socializing with classmates, provide information that is relevant to your performance at the job.
Get Reference from Volunteer Work
If you have been engaged in volunteer work for an organization or a fund, if you have a completed internship under your belt, they are all fine chances to ask for a reference. Your employers won’t want to get only your regular paid work references – your internship supervisor is a person qualified enough to turn out a good description of your abilities and attitude.
Consider Pastor’s Reference
Those who belong to church groups and are often engaged in voluntary church work can ask their pastor or another person of parochial authority to come up with something like a reference. It will be weighty enough if you have performed any serious work like arranging events or carrying out administrative duties.
Character Reference Will Do
No work in your past worth mentioning? Arrange to have a character reference drawn for you by anybody who agrees to vouch for your personality. Take care not to get a family member to do it, for it may look as if you don’t trust outside opinions; a friend or a neighbor can be a suitable person for it, but a professional would be just perfect.
Explain It Away
Wait for a convenient pause or a relevant topic during the interview to tell the HR manager that you have no references and explain why. Generally they wait until after the interview to leaf through references. Be open about it, and if you sound reasonable, employers may accept your explanation. They will hardly be expecting you to get in touch for reference with people and companies from your left-behind past.
Take References at Odd Jobs
Do you carry out any neighborhood tasks now and then for a little extra cash? You may not have considered babysitting or lawn care a serious enough task to ask the client for a reference, but why not? Always ask people to oblige.
Compensate for Having No References
You can’t produce references and that’s a weak point of your application – compensate for it in other ways. Show your punctuality, dress up impressively, think up uncommon and powerful responses to expected questions. Try and leave a strong enduring impression that will outweigh the weakness.
You don’t want to think that no references means certain failure. Naturally you feel stronger with a couple of good ones, but you don’t have to feel bad if you have none, you may grab the job yet. Still, look around closely for people who may furnish you with some kind of reference that can be added to your application.
