The references dilemma

Ignore the references question until the end. If all the other aspects fit, then pass on some names. It is not a good tactic at the beginning.

 

Agree 100 percent. I've argued this point on here for years, and I'm not inclined to do it again. But putting your references on your resume can only help you. The right references can lift you to the top of the pile. Not listing references leaves you back with the rest of the pack. It's probably not going to doom you, but you're wasting a golden opportunity by not listing them. And I've never heard of an employer calling references BEFORE they've actually gotten into the meat of the interview process. At that point, you can ask them to wait to call your current employer. They'll understand.

 

Thanks. Helpful wisdom as always from the SportsJournalists.com crowd.

 

As a beat writer, I've never severely criticized or thrown the team I cover under a truck. I still see no harm in using an SID as a reference if you have a professional and long-standing relationship with them. If I were a columnist, that's a completely different situation. Unless you work in a huge city and are considering jumping to a competitor, why would you feel indebted to the SID? It's a reference, not someone expecting payback.

And I would never use a PR rep as a reference.

 

An SID is a PR rep, in my opinion. The only way I'd get a positive response from our local SID is because he'd be trying to get rid of me. I'm glad it is this way - means I'm doing my job.

 

You don't have to throw them under a truck to piss off an SID. Just in the last couple weeks, my SID went bonkers because I dared to follow up an unflattering story that broke in another state about my school. It was something that had to be done, but my guy thought we should have suppressed it, trying to argue that "you guys should be better than that," etc., etc.

If you cover a beat, these kinds of stories happen from time to time, and SIDs go nuts because they feel like it's on them to keep negative news out of the media. Logic doesn't rule in these cases.

So I guess we'll agree to disagree - putting an SID down as a reference, if I was a sports editor, would indicate to me that the guy might not have been willing to stand up to the school he covers.

 

Well, Ira, I must of had a had a hell of a lot of stretch runs over the years, because I've never listed anything but "upon request" on my resume, and it apparently has never hurt me.

Additionally, I've never given a second thought to seeing it on somebody else's resume.

Extra work? That'd be "Hey, interesting resume and cover letter. We're interested. Can you send us some references?"

 

Perhaps over the years it has been easier to get a job than it is now. I'm glad it never hurt your opportunities, but I've talked to numerous recruiters at a few informal job fairs the past few years and when there's time, asked for advice on resumes. Many of them bring up this point.

In the job I'm in now, the managing editor immediately made a connection with my resume because he saw one of my refs was a college professor of mine, a guy he used to work with at another newspaper on the other side of the country. I never would have guessed that connection.

 

I have to admit, that's a good point.