On Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:01:45 +0100, Invisible wrote:

>>> You mean, like his dance teacher?
>>
>> That would be a good idea, yes. :-)
> 
> Really? Hmm, I *think* she remembers my name - if only because of Tiger
> Feet. ;-)
> 
> Seriously, what kind of thing do companies want to find out from a
> reference anyway? I doubt they're going to care that I've mastered the
> American Spin but I need to work on my Flick-Ball-Change.

In addition to what Stephen said, while your dance instructor knows what 
you've learned, she can certainly say something about your determination 
to accomplish a task.  It isn't always about the specific thing you 
learned, but that you stuck through it and learned it (and got high marks 
for doing so).

One of the primary reasons employers are interested in a university 
degree, for that matter, isn't so much *what* you studied but that you 
had the perseverance to get through the program and earn a degree (*any* 
degree).  Not that it being in the field isn't a help, but even if it 
isn't, it's a benefit to list it because it shows you took on a long 
project (earning the degree) and stuck with it until you finished it.

Jim

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Invisible wrote:
>>> You mean, like his dance teacher?
>>
>> That would be a good idea, yes. :-)
> 
> Really? Hmm, I *think* she remembers my name - if only because of Tiger 
> Feet. ;-)
> 
> Seriously, what kind of thing do companies want to find out from a 
> reference anyway? I doubt they're going to care that I've mastered the 
> American Spin but I need to work on my Flick-Ball-Change.

Another way to do this, by the way, is to get the references in writing in 
advance. Include contact information, but it might be enough to just include 
a letter saying "Yes, he's great, etc etc."

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Serving Suggestion:
     "Don't serve this any more. It's awful."

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