When writing your professional resume you will of course need to add a few references. Whether you use a resume template and add the referee names before a job interview or submit them after, it’s important that you secure a referee before you start your job hunt.

As well as looking good on your resume, a referee can also contribute in your job hunt by offering a letter of recommendation. So they are very powerful tools.

If you’re currently seeking employment but have minimal past work history or professional contacts it can be very difficult to include relevant references on your resume. This can prevent you from even being considered by a potential employer and could result in it being very difficult to achieve an interview. However, we here at Resume Surgeon have compiled some tips to help you get around this problem.

Obtaining references for your resume can be a daunting process as it can often involve talking to previous employers you may not have contacted in quite some time and will certainly involve a little head-scratching with regard to picking the right people that will present you in the best possible light if questioned by your prospective employers. The latter point is the most important one here as ultimately, when creating your resume, you’re creating a document which has to sell you to your potential new employer and every aspect of your resume has to reflect this underlying goal.