Often than not, whether to include referees is a question most, if not all, job seekers have battled with. You have curated your curriculum vitae (CV) for the role, outlined your skills, highlighted your achievements, and tailored every detail to fit. But just before you hit send, the doubt creeps in: do referees deserve a spot on your CV, or should they wait until later?
Caroline Machua, the Head of Recruitment and Operations at Corporate Staffing Services, says that when a recruiter looks at your CV for the first time, what really matters are your work experience, skills, and key achievements.
"Yes and no," she says. "For example, there are jobs that will tell you from the job description or from the instructions for applying, we need three referees. At that point, put them because they've asked for it."
Certain industries, like academia or research, also expect referees to be listed upfront. But if the instructions are open, she advises leaving them out. In such cases, a simple line saying 'references available upon request' is acceptable.
Why you should not put your referees on your CV
One of the main reasons Ms Machua discourages candidates from listing referees unnecessarily is privacy.
Job seekers often send applications to dozens of organisations, trying to cast their net far and wide and including referees' personal details in every CV exposes them.
"Remember there is the Data Protection Act and you can be sued," she says.
Another concern is referee fatigue. "You do not want your referees to get tired. Say, you've sent out jobs to 10 organisations, then depending on the recruitment process maybe there are those who first reach out to referees before they even meet you. Imagine how many times your referees have been called."
Ms Machua says you should not include your friends, relatives, people you share the same hobbies and interests or senior figures you never reported to as your referees.
"For instance, a managing director of your company and maybe you've never even interacted with them. So, when we call, they are like, 'Who is that? He/she says they worked for us? I think now you could go to HR, I'm not the best suitable person.'"
A more credible option is always a direct supervisor, a manager you worked under, or in some cases, a peer or if the organisation has restructured, HR may be contacted.
"But the most a HR can tell you is why the employee left," she points out. For peers, Ms Machua says sometimes a supervisor and employee part on bad terms, and the supervisor might not give a fair assessment. In those cases, it is acceptable to list a peer who can credibly speak to your work.
Do referees play a role before the final decision?
Referees can influence the recruitment at different stages. Ms Machua says, "If I call a referee, or sometimes two of them, at the beginning before I meet you and they give a bad review, why should I meet you also? You've already prematurely evicted yourself from the process."
More often, however, references are checked toward the final stages, when only a few candidates remain under consideration.
"Even for us as recruiters, I won't go asking references from like seven candidates because it is a lot of work on my end. I will stick to the process until they are like two or three."
On the other hand, the number of referees to include depends on your career stage and work history. Ms Machua says a recent graduate can list their head of department, while those with longer careers should include people they have worked with in the past five to seven years.
"This is because, as per the Employment Act right now, you are supposed to keep records of an employee for five years." There are exceptions, though. If you worked in one company for many years in the same department, it is wise to add another referee outside that setting, to give recruiters a broader view of your work ethic.
Do referees tip the balance?
For candidates with career gaps, referees cannot always make up for the missing years. "For example, if your last employer was during Covid time and you got fired. I would be hesitant because of the gap but I'll also look at what have you been doing between that time and now," she says.
Similarly, referees cannot fix a weak CV. "If you have a weak CV, your referees will not be your saving grace because often than not, they will come after."
When referees make sense
Joseph Odoya, a talent acquisition specialist at Athena, agrees that referees should not take up unnecessary space on a CV. He says including them rarely adds value, even at senior levels. The only exceptions, he explains, are for roles that are not saturated locally or for opportunities abroad, where the job market is smaller.
In such cases, referees can give a candidate mileage. In highly competitive positions, he adds, sharing referees early on can sometimes be a 50-50 gamble.
"We have roles like Chief Financial Officer (CFO), showing or at least providing information about your referees in advance shows that level of credibility and at least they can now trust you with their role; but remember over sharing your CV with the referees exposes their information and tires them," he says.
His rule of thumb is to use CV space to highlight skills, experience, and achievements, and only share referees when specifically requested. In his view, one of the few things that can disadvantage a candidate is adding the line 'referees are available upon request,' because it is outdated.
Even then, Mr Odoya points out that boards and CEOs are unlikely to rely solely on the referees a candidate provides. "It is ever a mixture of both," he says, explaining that independent background checks are often carried out to verify a candidate's profile.
Do big names give you mileage?
Quoting referees from well-known companies may tilt things slightly in a candidate's favour, but this comes with a warning. "Of course, it will give you mileage but are you able to prove exactly what you were doing with them and the achievements plus accomplishments you achieved? Referees are the icing on the cake."
He also discourages aligning referees too closely with the senior role being applied for. Diversity, he argues, gives candidates a stronger advantage.
"If you mention for instance only CFOs in the different organisations you worked with, it makes it difficult for us to understand how you were collaborating with others. Like, what did teamwork look like? Did you grow your team?"
