Appearing for an interview is like selling a product- the product being you. Resumes get you invited for an interview, where you get to market yourself. But references are what closes a deal. When a company is hiring you, it is making a big investment. It is obvious that anybody making such a big investment will make sure that they are making the right choice. This choice will largely be influenced by the references that you provide.
It's true that most employers don't do a complete background check. References are not even meant for that. However, most employers will at least go through one or two of the references that you provide. Underestimating the power of the references is a big mistake. If an employer has interviewed two equally good individuals for a particular position, the next obvious step for them to be taken is to contact at least a couple of references. This will be when your "dream job" will be in hands of other people. It's a frightening scenario, but with little care and planning, you can turn this into an opportunity that will work in your favor.
Who Can Be A Reference?
References should ideally be people you have reported to in your previous jobs. Alternatively, if you have been in your current job for a long time, someone who used to work with you and has left, or someone who used to report to you, could also be a good reference. In certain industries, providing references from outside the company is also accepted. These could be vendors or business associates.
Who Cannot Be A Reference?
Family and relatives are not suited to be references. A long letter from Uncle Harry describing how energetic you were in your youth and how skillful you are is of little to no importance. Old letters written in the past by previous employers to "whomsoever it may concern" will hardly interest your prospective employer, and the chances of such a letter being read is low.
Keys To Using Job References
- Never put references on your resume. It should be on a separate sheet titled "References". However, the reference should be carried to the interview and should be provided on request.
- You should think strategically about the references that you wish to mention. You want to list people who will make strong recommendations for you. Putting down names of supervisors is not mandatory, especially if they are not aware of your accomplishments or if there is a fear that they may not speak strongly for you. The focus should be on people, either former co-workers, or supervisors, who know what you have done and what you are capable of.
- You should always get the permission of the person you wish to use as a reference. Most people will have no problem with that, or might even be flattered with the proposal; however, some people might decline your request for whatever reason. Be prepared for that.
- You should mention all the details for references, which would ideally consist of full name, current designation, company name, business address and contact information.
- Keep your references informed about the job you are seeking. Provide them with your updated resume, and make sure they are aware of your skills and your accomplishments.
Good references can help you secure that perfect job; therefore, some extra effort should be put into making sure that nothing is left to chance.
For any business to survive something must be sold. That is a fact that can not be changed. Every business makes their money when something is sold. It can be a traditional business, home business, an online business, etc….
All that really matters in succeeding in your business is sales and more sales. That's where the importance of a good sales person lies. Because the average person is not a sales person per say. Most people fail at selling. They are either afraid of the rejection part or are afraid the phone will eat off their ear.
For example, that is why people in a home business fail. About 95% of home businesses fail and the biggest reason is they are not sales people. So when sales are to be made that's where all of us need the experienced sales person to come in. Unfortunately most sales people that are good at closing sales do not earn the amount of money their skill should be paying them.
That's why when you have good sales people they should be paid top dollar for the skill they have at finding the sales and closing the sale. This brings us to another problem with our example of a home business owner.
Most home business owners don't have the income to pay their sales person what they are really worth. Even after they make a sale. Why is that you say? The sale in a small home business hasn't got enough mark up to make it really worth it for professional sales closer.
The way I look at it is you need to make enough on a sale to be able to pay your salesperson say $1000 a sale. That way in a week they could have the chance to make between $3000 and $5000 a week. If you are able to pay a sales person like that they will stay with your business. Not only that, but they will want to close as many sales as they can.
What that would mean to you is more income coming into your home business. That would make you happy and the sales people would be happy. It's a win win situation. That's the only way, business should be done. Where everybody wins. Anything else is a waste of time.
Here's another way to look at this situation. Say you find a business with an immediate cash flow of say $3000 a sale. Well with that you can pay a sales person to close the sales and you pay that person $1000 for every sale they make. Well if they made 3 sales that week. You would have $9000. You pay the sales person $3000 out of the $9000. Now you just made $6000 and you didn't have to talk to anybody.
All you did was pay the sales person and you as the business owner do whatever your part was. Now it doesn't get any better than that, does it? Could you just imagine for a moment. What would happen to your business income if you had 10 sales people that could close 3 sales a week each for you? That's 30 sales times $3000, that's $90,000 in a week. You pay out $30,000 to the sales people and you pocketed $60,000 for that week.
Let's say it took a month. That's a good income for 30 days, huh. Let's see, $60,000 a month times 12 months. That's a total of $720,000 a year. Even the sales people would be earning one heck of a great income.
The real sad part about this is. That all of you reading this article this moment can accomplish this scenario. Just by knowing what business to start, where you can earn $3000 a sale and being taught the way to do it. But unfortunately there will not be many of you that will even take that first step to check out anything on how this is being done.
That is what separates the real business owners from the want to bees. Remember with anything you do in life you have to have desire! Business is no different.
Both Tony Jacowski & Jdeloach are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Tony Jacowski has sinced written about articles on various topics from University, Six Sigma and Information Technology. Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online offers online and certification classes for lean six sigm. Tony Jacowski's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.
Jdeloach has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fishing, Home Based Business and Small Business. If you would like to see one of my immediate cash businesses where you can make $3000 a sale and start seeing how a sales person will explode your business go here