Excellent References are Important In these tough economic times, employers are seeking ways to cut their risks. Right now as a job applicant you represent a potential risk to them. They could hire you and spend time and money training you only to find out that you are either unable to do the job well or have a fatal character flaw that interferes with your job performance. An employer needs to know that you are who you say you are. An effective way to accomplish that is through utilizing your references.Consider this: You are one of two hundred people that are applying to an employer with one job opening. The employer has specified exactly the skills, experience, and education that they are looking for. They do not have time to interview all two hundred people, so they start to review who meets all the requirements needed to perform the job.Out of two hundred people, twenty of those people meet all the employers’ requirements of skill, experience, and education. Because you filled out your application well and submitted a resume targeting how you meet the specific skills and experience requirements of the job, you are one of the twenty in the pool of candidates being considered. You have the same types of skills, experience, and education as the other 19 candidates.Now that the employer has narrowed down the pool to 20 people, they start the interview process. You interview well, have sent a thank you note for the interview, and have been asked to return for a second interview. The employer has narrowed the pool of candidates down to 4 people; 3 other people are coming in for a second interview as well. What is going to set you apart from the other 3 people?The answer is your excellent references! So choose well who you use for a reference; that person can make or break your job search efforts! For more information on resume references, check out my website listed below!