As a jobseeker, there’s a lot of things you can do to present yourself in the best possible light to all future employers. You can design a great CV, write the most compelling cover letter, clean up all your social media profiles so you look like a true professional, and so on. However, regardless of how hard you working during your job search to depict yourself as the ideal candidate, there’s one area that’s kind of out of your control: your references. While of course, you can be pretty positive that your references aren’t going to say anything terrible (after all, they agreed to be your references), there’s still something scary about not knowing exactly what it is they’ll bring up when talking to your potential employers. However, one way to feel more confident in this area is to make sure that you haven’t committed any of the usual errors that job seekers tend to make when providing references in their applications.

1. Not informing a reference of your job search.

This seems pretty obvious, but if you’re going to be supplying someone as a reference, get in touch with them first and make sure that 1) they’re comfortable with that and 2) they’re aware of the kinds of jobs or career that you’re pursuing. There’s nothing worse than having a potential employer call up a reference who didn’t even know they were a reference; they probably won’t give you a very good recommendation and you’ll come across as severely unprofessional to both parties. Similarly, sometimes an individual will decline to be a reference for whatever reason, which is something you want to know before they get a reference request and turn it down because they don’t feel comfortable answering it.

2. Overusing a reference.

It’s good to have two to four different references in hand, just so that you can decide whose information to give out depending on your role, and so that you don’t end up annoying your references with an influx of emails from places you’ve applied to, especially if you’re applying to lots of jobs at the same time. Additionally, your references might also start getting suspicious once the emails start piling up and wonder why it is that you can’t seem to land (or hold onto) a job, which would affect what they have to say about you.

3. Not providing full contact details.

Typically when you’re stating someone as a reference, you should provide that person’s full name, phone number, email, and current job title. Of course, always check with your references first as to how much personal information they’re comfortable with you giving out. If someone says that they don’t want you to put down their phone number, then don’t do it; in today’s day and age, most people just use email anyway.

4. Providing irrelevant references.

You have to tailor your references based on the roles that you’re applying for. If you’re a recent college graduate, for instance, and you’re applying for marketing positions, try not to put down your Biology professor as a reference unless they can talk about your transferable skills. Of course, your references don’t all have to be in the field you’re pursuing, and if you’re changing careers, you might not have any contacts in your new desired field. In those cases, do the best you can to use references who know you well both personally and professionally and can talk about traits that are applicable to any profession (e.g. a strong work ethic, high ambitions, great communication skills, etc). Also, don’t ever, ever, ever put down a friend or family member as a reference.

5. Forgetting to say thank you.

In addition to saying thank you to your interviewer after an interview, it’s also important that you thank your references, especially if you end up getting the role. After all, they played a part in helping you land your new job. By taking the time to thank them, they’ll feel genuinely appreciated and not just used, and probably be more than happy to help you out in the future should you need to use them as a reference again.