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References Could Sink Your Career Opportunity

For all of those seeking a new job, it is important to make sure you have reliable references who can provide accurate information about your workplace performance.

Contacting references is generally one of the last steps before extending an offer to a prospective employee. So what happens if you have reached the point of having your references contacted, but never receive an offer?

First of all, a quick tip list of references dos and don'ts.

- Always ask if you may use someone as a reference, especially managers and former colleagues.
- Make sure you let your references know ahead of time that they will be contacted by your prospective employer.
- Be sure that your list of references includes a mixture of peers and managers. Ideally, include someone who worked for you, someone you worked with directly, and a manager.
- Stay in contact with anyone who may be a "go to" reference. It's difficult to include someone as a reference who you have not spoken to in several years.

Now that the formalities of references have been covered, let's get down to how references could be a road block to a new job.

One careers advice column mentions that some references may be out of pocket too often to be reliable. So try to avoid using those who travel frequently, or are usually involved with in person meetings.

If you find that you are getting to the reference stage, but not receiving an offer too many times, you may need to re-evaluate who your references are. Take an honest assessment of your relationship with your references, and make sure that you follow the etiquette list above.

Once you have assessed who your references are, and whether or not they are appropriate for the responsibility, but are still having problems with getting an offer, keep in mind that the job market is still on shaky ground. Some companies may think they are in a position to hire, but realize they have to wait.

Just stay patient and motivated. Good luck!