It's protocol to always have references included in your resume when applying for a new job. Typically three or four references are the number of references that prospective employers would ask from you. Getting people to acknowledge you as a person and employee is not that difficult. Here are tips to seamlessly ask for a job recommendation from a good set of people.

Who to Ask for References
In fact, anyone with a worthy background will make a good reference. Fresh graduates and undergraduate students (looking for part-time work) can ask request for job recommendation letters from their university professors and academic advisors; or your avid customers for those with previous jobs.

If you have had previous employment experience, request a recommendation for job from your last employer and make sure that a year has not passed since your severance from the company. It's no longer applicable to request for a job letter of recommendation if over two years has passed since you left your last employer, especially with large companies that monitor a large number of current employees at a given time. Your former superior could most probably not remember details of your performance anymore.

When asking for a job recommendation letter, it is advisable to mention the type of work you used to do and the responsibilities given to you to make it easier for your former employer to help them recall your overall performance while under their employment. Mention successful projects you completed and other remarkable and outstanding performances.

The proper way to ask for a job recommendation
Whether you're asking for a job letter of recommendation or requesting to asking to accommodate a phone call from a recruitment representative of your prospective employer, maintain courtesy at all times. Once they accept your request for job recommendation letters, appreciate the time they will have been spending to write the letter or take the call. This is very true for busy team heads and managers who are always catching up with deadlines and clients, and follow-up with members of the team.

How important is a Recommendation for Job
Well-detailed employer job recommendation letters are potentially helpful job-searching tools that you can very well use to your advantage in many ways.

• A job recommendation from a former employer can minimize or erase doubts about the reasons of why you left from your previous company. Hence, it's a must to help remind your former boss about your accomplishments while working with them.
  
  
• A job recommendation from your previous employer also facilitates for a speedy recruitment process, to your advantage, because it diminishes the burden of a prospective employer in having to call the undersigned and inquire about you. After all, the job recommendation letter should suffice to say all that's needs to be known about your work experience, performance, and working attitude, among others.
  
  
• It eliminates the risks associated with unreachable recommenders or poor recommendations because your former team head is too busy and couldn't immediately remember what great contributions you laid down for the team's or company's goals.
  
  
• Should you want to know what your references say about you, having a job recommendation letter will allow you just that. A written job recommendation, moreover, is deemed more professional than a recommendation delivered over the phone.

Do not have qualms of requesting for a job recommendation from your previous employer as they themselves know it is a pertinent part of the recruitment process and is, thus, considered protocol. You should ask nicely though, and never demand for it. Otherwise, you might get a poor grade and forfeit the purpose of a job recommendation. Lastly, always thank your recommender for spending his/her valuable time writing the job recommendation letter.