No References? Here is What To Do

Picture this. You have your LinkedIn buttoned up, your resume is ready, and you find the perfect part-time oncology gig. When you get on the call, everything is going great…until the recruiter asks about your references. And it lands with a thud. You have no references ready to go. Not one.

And you feel it. That little shift in the room. Because you didn’t think about references. Not really. Most people don’t, until the moment they need them.

Here is the thing so many job seekers miss: references aren’t a formality you scramble for at the finish line. They are something you should be building today, long before anyone asks.

But what happens when you can’t provide references? What if you have been out of work for a hot minute, and the market has given you nothing but crickets? And what if the manager who knew your work best got laid off the same day you did? And a big one in today’s market: many of you may feel too much time has lapsed since your last role… so now the ask just feels awkward.

What to Do When You Have No References Ready

These are the questions my team and I sat down to work through in our latest roundtable. We talked about what actually makes a reference strong…and what makes one fall flat. We talked about who your two most powerful reference categories really are (hint: it isn’t always who you think). And we got honest about the fear so many of you carry: “I don’t want to bother them.”

Here is what I want you to know going in: Your references want to go to bat for you. The key is that you just have to know who to ask, how to ask, and when.

So before the reference request catches you off guard again…give this one a listen. Then tell me: when was the last time you refreshed your reference list?

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