Reference - Economics and Business

Economics and Business

Further information: Employment reference letter

In the labour market, potential employers often ask job applicants for references or recommendations, so that their suitability can be verified independently. The references can be a written letter, but are often just a contact telephone number. Employers can ask for professional references, which are from former employers, or for character references, which are from people of distinction such as doctors or teachers. The source of the reference must be well known to the applicant and able to vouch for their abilities during employment.

In business administration, terms of reference describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, meeting, negotiation, or any similar collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. The terms of reference of a project are often referred to as the project charter.

In business marketing and public procurement and tenders references are often used within the field of engineering, consultancy, industry and construction contracts. References are used to examine a company's ability to deliver the required level of service. Very often bigger companies will have hundreds or even thousands of references and will often try to categorize and manage them with reference management software