The purpose of providing references is to close the deal. It isn’t to find out if you are telling the truth about your dates of employment, verify if you have t

The purpose of providing references is to close the deal. It isn’t to find out if you are telling the truth about your dates of employment, verify if you have the proper skills or even assure the hiring authority he’s making the right decision to hire you -- though each reason contributes. If a company is having difficulty deciding which of two individuals to make an offer to, references are usually the deciding factor. If more job seekers understood this, they wouldn’t view the phrase “references provided upon request” so casually. http://www.jobdig.com/articles/843/The_Real_Purpose_of_References.html http://www.jobdig.com/articles/843/The_Real_Purpose_of_Refer...