As a follow-up to my recent blog post titled, “How NOT to network in 2011,” I knew I had to share this smart post from John Sumser on Glassdoor.com’s blog. He’s talking about recommendations for a job, but this applies to everything. The link is at the end of this and here’s what motivated me to re-post this:
A connection who doesn’t have all five of the following attributes can’t be helpful. A good person for a recommendation must:
* Know someone who has jobs and the authority to fill them;
* Be credible with that person;
* Be able to pledge her credibility on your ability to do the job;
* Know you well enough to bet her reputation on you; and,
* Believe that your behavior will reflect positively on her.
As John notes, “That’s a tall order,” so do think carefully about who and how you ask for recommendations, references or referrals going forward.
Here’s the link to the Glassdoor’s blog post.
