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How to brief your referee (the one-page method)

The single highest-leverage document in your job hunt.

The short version

What is on it

Your dates and title, the role you are going for, four things you actually delivered with a number in each, one honest growth area, and the agreed line on why you left.

Why it works

Referees want to help and fear being caught out. The brief gives them true specifics so they can be confident without improvising.

The rules

Everything on it must be true and attributable. The brief is a memory aid, not a script of fiction.

Where Reference Ace fits in

The honest version of this problem is solvable, and it lasts. No usable referee? We check real examples of your work, confirm they're yours, and vouch for them openly as an independent reviewer. Got referees? We brief them properly, run a practice of the exact call employers make, and use the consent rules that keep your current employer out of it until you have signed. Nothing to hide, nothing that unravels in year two.

Common questions

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How long should a brief be?

One page. Two means the referee will skim, and skimming shows.

Do I send it every time?

Refresh and resend for each new role type. Two minutes for you, a much better reference for you.

What if my referee disagrees with the growth area?

Good. That conversation is the practice check. Better now than live.

No referee? Show us your work

Reference Ace checks real examples of your work, confirms they're yours, and vouches for them to employers by name, always as an independent reviewer and never as a former boss. Got a referee already? We brief them and run the practice check before a real employer calls.

See how it works and pricing