When to Submit Your References

Unless specifically requested as part of the application requirements, I advise not to submit reference letters or reference lists prior to your interview for the following reasons:

As a Courtesy to the People Serving as Your References

Your colleagues and business contacts were gracious enough to agree to serve as your references so try to shield them from unnecessary contact. Make sure you’re really interested in a position before you give out your references’ contact information. Typically, you won’t know this until after your interview. If it’s not a job you want to pursue, there’s no reason for your references to be contacted. Don’t allow your valuable references to be contacted by so many companies that they lose their enthusiasm about you.

In addition, if you wait until after your interview to submit your references, you'll have an opportunity to contact your references and fill them in on the key points and issues of importance to the particular position. That way they'll be able to focus their comments on the specific issues you want them to address when the prospective employer contacts them.

To Protect the Security of Those People Serving as Your References

The more you pass your references’ information around, the more likely it becomes that their personal contact information will fall into the wrong hands. This is a particularly serious problem if you put your resume and reference list on the Internet.

To Give Employers an Opportunity to Tell You What References They Want

If you haven’t already submitted your references prior to your interview, you’ll have the opportunity to ask the interviewer what type of references and how many references he/she would like to have. If you don’t feel comfortable showing up at your interview without a reference sheet or reference letters, then go ahead and take them with you. If you’re asked for references during the interview, you’ll have them. You can still offer to provide additional or different references according to what the interviewer would like to have.

Another advantage of submitting your references after your interview is that it gives you an excuse to make another contact with the potential employer. Use that opportunity to show your interest in the position once again.

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