I am in the middle of putting together my reference list and I have a few questions.

Should I have the duties performed for each client on there, to read almost like in resume format? I am thinking just list Client, their title, company and contact information.

I am not applying for a job where I need to have a resume, but yet if I need to list my duties for my now clients, I will be leaving out a lot of my capabilities.

I did the entire business start up for my husbands company and ran it as well. I gained a lot from that experience but I can not put that down on my reference list can I? And my years as a manager in the Finance department at a hospital too, how would I list that or do I?

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

I feel a reference list should be just that, a list of references. I put the company name, contact name, phone and email. You can also separate them by employers vs. clients. I wouldn't clutter it up with all the other info.

I have a "skills profile" instead of a resume, it is basically a resume but in Functional format, where you list your experience/qualifications first then your employment history last. I only supply either upon request. However, I do include testimonials in with my packet and then if they ask for the references and/or resume I will provide it.

A lot of VAs say you should not provide resume's because you are a business, not an employee, blah, blah, blah, but frankly I feel you should do what you feel is best for you. I worked for a mutli-million dollar company and even they had to provide resume's for the owners on occassion. I think it just depends on the situtation.

I don't see a way to opload a file here, but I can email you a copy of my skills profile and reference list if you would like, so you can see how it's laid out.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

I know exactly what you are talking about. I am going to just list them and then create a skills profile.

Thanks

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Great advice Rebecka!

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I like that idea.

Mattie

I love this idea, thanks for sharing it!

Dawn: When I provide references, I put in a brief synopsis of what kind of work I did for each client. This is not a way to highlight my skills, but rather to faciliatate a more-effective reference check. If, for example, I helped a client clean up their QuickBooks file and taught them how to keep it cleaned up (a one-time project), then they wouldn't be a very good reference for my virtual bookkeeping services (an ongoing relationship). So, I think in that type of circumstance, it's a good idea to list what you did for a particular client and what type of relationship you had.

Deb

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Deb Howard Greenleaf, Certified QB ProAdvisor
Virtual Bookkeeping & QB Consulting