What is meant by a personal reference?
A personal reference is often used by prospective employers to find out a little more about a prospective employee. It is usually someone you have known for a long time, perhaps a best friend, an old boss or co-worker, perhaps one of your neighbors, or someone you know in the community. The only people not eligible for this are family members. The employer will sometimes contact these personal references of yours to find out what kind of person you are. The best references are often from people that work in the community, such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, church leaders, civil servants, etc,etc. Here is an example: John Smith is a charismatic individual, smart, trustworthy, great sense of humor, and he has an excellent work ethic. I have know him for 6 years, and he is an outstanding member of the community.
A personal reference is usually given by someone who can vouch for your credibility, personality, honesty, trustworthyness and attitude. I would recommend it to be given by someone you have know for some time and is a professional individual ie a teacher, doctor, nurse, in the police or a manager etc, as this adds credibility to their reference and stops us HR Managers from thinking it’s one of your friends or previous work mates!
