Providing high-quality and relevant references is crucial when trying to get your next job.References are there to help promote and advocate for you, both as a professional and as a person, to your next employer — but you have little control over what your references say about you. However, you can control who you provide as references to a hiring manager.Below we have three tips on the steps you can take to ensure you choose the right references to represent you.

1. Choose your references wisely.

You want to ensure that you're choosing references that will best represent you as a job seeker. Focus on getting references who can elaborate on all your experiences, such as your work ethic, educational achievements, and community involvement. You also want to find references that can speak to how you meet the requirements of the job description. Your references should be able to provide examples to your potential employer of how you use specific programs, demonstrate your communication skills, and so on.

2. Handle poor relationships with care.If you had a personality conflict with a key person at your workplace, or if you have been terminated, make efforts to resolve it in some capacity.Contact your former employer to see if you can discuss what happened. You could explain what you have learned from the experience and talk about the steps you have taken to improve. Ask them about your strengths and weaknesses and how you can continue to grow. See if they would be willing to provide you with a reference based on this conversation.If not, think about who you did have a better working relationship with. It could be another supervisor, a co-worker, or even a client.

3. Prepare your references.Ensure you and your references are clear on how they will endorse you to a potential employer. Send them a copy of your resume and set up a brief meeting to go over the job you are applying for, explain your skill set in more detail, and review your past employment and community work. This will ensure that your references are sending the right message to the hiring manager.For more, watch Rob Daniels discuss this topic here.Guhuza is created in partnership with TorontoJobs.ca.Guhuza is the new way of recruitment. It is an innovative Canadian platform that goes beyond the features of a traditional job board. It uses breakthrough technology to instantly match employers and job seekers for the ultimate hiring experience.

Our advanced technology matches job seekers' profiles with jobs on our site and ranks them for employers based on the skills required for the position. Once a match has been made, live interviews can be conducted right through our platform.

Visit Guhuza.com or our Knowledge Base to learn more.