The Ideal Reference

Saw the piece here entitled, How to Pick the Ideal Reference.

The author's opinion...

So, here they are, my must-have qualities for the perfect reference:

• People who you are certain think highly of you.
• People who will take the request seriously and be prepared and thoughtful in their answers, even if you don’t have time to brief them beforehand (though building in time for a thorough briefing is a wise idea).
• People who understand the context in which the reference is being given.
• People who will know, intuitively, how to present any of your potential weaknesses as strengths.
• People who express themselves well — either verbally or in writing, depending on which type of reference they will be giving.

Or as I've found in doing some checking on references for a legal assistant or law clerk, make sure they're people who will actually respond to a call/e-mail when someone's doing a reference check!