Good references give search consultants and search committees different lenses and perspectives on a candidate’s career path, experience, and potential. Candidates are not necessarily the best at “tooting their own horn;” they may be also less inclined to be candid (or aware) or their own growth areas.
We ask for the reference’s name, email address, phone number and their relationship to you. We also prefer people who have known or worked with the candidate fairly recently (maybe in the last 3-4 years). It’s sometimes difficult for those who worked with a candidate beyond that to give up-to-date information about where a candidate is on their career path.
When considering people for your list, include people who can extoll your leadership, virtues, and potential and be able to articulate possible challenges in stepping into a new role as well as identify growth areas.
In the perfect world, a reference:
- Would be someone who has worked with, under, over you. In other words, a colleague, a direct report, or a supervisor
- Would be able to talk about your direct work at a school or with schools
- Can talk about your character and value-added to a school
- Can give concrete examples and specifics of situations that demonstrate your skills and leadership (e.g. in change management, starting initiatives, etc.)
- Be able to talk about things like how you make complex decisions, how you lead and mentor others, how you work with a leadership team
- Might have insight into how others (faculty, colleagues, parents, students, trustees, etc.) at your present school see you
- Is able to gauge the potential of a candidate, particularly if you are an emerging leader
- Can talk about failures as well as the successes that you have experienced, e.g., an initiative that was not successful and what you learned … your resilience
- Can give insight into how you would move into a new environment, get to know the people
Things to pay attention to:
- Correct spelling of the reference’s name
- Correct and valid email address
