What Is The Proper Format For Including References In A Resume?
January 12, 2010 by career
Filed under Resume Questions
I am fixing up my resume to submit it for a job, and I’ve googled sites that help you build your resume… However, they all say something different with regards to references! The one thing that is similar amongst all of them is that your resume should only be one page long, however, I can’t keep mine to just one page and include references… So a site I visited suggested the line, “References available upon request,” but another says that ‘references available upon request’ is kind of a ‘duh,’ and now I’m stuck. This is for a job within the government, so if anyone out there reading this has an inside to what the government likes to see, that would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
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In my general experience I print a separate page with references on it and attach it separately when mailing it in or bring it to the interview. It keeps your resume shorter. Make sure you match the font and paper stock if you do this.
My whole work history is 8 pages long I think if you count summer and temp jobs, 2 pages if I do the “Relevant Experience” approach, 1 page if I do a “Jobs in the past 5 years” approach – so adding references to the direct body of the resume takes away from your chance to showcase yourself.
The only exception I think would apply if if you have an insanely INCREDIBLE reference like Jimmy Carter or President Bush or George Lucas and maybe you’d want that on your resume, but if you were applying for any job that related to them you’d probably have a portfolio or a project to show off as well as your connections.
Many jobs I’ve applied for want your resume and also a regular application filled out as well, so having a reference sheet comes in handy.
Re: government jobs – I have interviewed for several state and federal jobs in the past and was called in for interviews from submitting a resume on their websites – you can tell they were really looking at skills and work history since there’s no place for fancy paper stock or fancy fonts on a web submission. Government jobs ALWAYS had me fill out a regular application at some point even if they had my resume.
“References provided upon request” is just lame wording on a resume IMHO, who wouldn’t want your references if they were interested in you?
Good luck!
If the application for the government position requires you include references as most do you would put the references in a separate page as follows:
REFERENCES
Company name
address
phone number
contact person & position
If the position does not require you submit this before hand you would put “References furnished upon request.”
I can’t fit my resume on one page..I have too much experience to list….It’s okay to have 3 pages….My resume was 2 full pages with the same caption at the bottom of the second page….”References available upon request”…You don’t want someone calling your references until you’re offered the job and it gives the employer a reason to contact you again to take the employment to the next level if he’s interested in what he/she sees in you…..Make it look good and to the point but don’t leave out critical experience that can separate you from your competition….2 pages + 1 for references is good!
I have always used “References available upon request” and bring the list to the interview with you. Otherwise, they don’t really need them. You don’t want to waste space on your resume with references, work experience and education are much more important.
just put ‘references available upon request’
Besides setting all margins to 1″, the most important criteria for setting up a professional resume besides relevant text, is “scanability.” Here are some helpful tips:
1. Place just below your identification header [your hame, address, phone, email address] any Conditional Warning Statement such as “Confidential Resume,”Do Not Contact Current Employer,” etc.
2. Always fill-in an Objectives category [just below the Conditional Warning Statement] and make sure that he Objective will contribute to the profitability of your future employer;
3. Select a mono-type font such as Helvetica, Arial, Courier or Times Roman; do not select any cursive handwriting styles which cannot scanned;
4. Keep font sizes within a range of 10 to 12 pts.;
5. Avoid styling text with a justified alignment, keep it flushed left;
6. Instead of using tabs to set up blocked text entries, generate a table and use the column and row settings accordingly;
7. Do not place an i.d. picture anywhere on the resume, this is a major taboo due to discrimination issues;
8. Do not place any graphic text [saved as .gifs] onto the resume since it may be overlooked during the scanning phase;
9. List at the very end of the resume your interests which should include travel experiences, language skills, social interactions such as golf, team sports, tennis, etc.
In conclusion, the above helpful hints were designed to allow ease of scanning of your resume into PDF which can then be text captured for seach purposes by your potential employer. Failure to conform the resume to appropriate fonts and styles as outlined above will result in rejection of the resume simply due to the inability of the scanning device to properly index relevant resume entries.
Good luck!