Job Reference?

ukstudent1989

Hi

I have applied for a European company based in Austria, and they have asked me to supply a written job reference from one of my previous employers.

My previous employer has agreed, but they have asked me to provide them with a draft of the reference.

I was just wondering, what does my previous employer have to put in a reference, and what does the new employer want to see in a reference?

Thank you :smile:

Reply 1

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by ukstudent1989

Confirmation that you were a good employee, exactly what that means depends on what the job was and what job you are going to do, a good reference will use evidence from the past job to show strong skills for the future job. But your referee might want to keep it quite simple, ie you were reliable, trustworthy, no disciplinary action was taken against you and mention any particular strengths or good work eg John was an invaluable assistant during a complex project to refit the factory. He worked long hours and paid close attention to detail when planning the exact measurements of the machinery layout.

The new employer really just wants confirmation that another person is prepared to stake their professional reputation on recommending you. Great if there is a lot of relevant evidence, but fine if it just says you were a good worker and the company liked working with you.