CV References: When & How to Add Referees

What are CV references?

CV references (also known as referees) are people who employers can contact to confirm the information you give during the hiring process.

Who can be a reference on a CV?

People who can be a reference on a CV include your:

• managers
• instructors or teachers
• mentors
• business partners or customers

But only list people you trust to give good reviews of the skills on your CV. And don’t just list them immediately — get permission from each reference before sending their contact details to employers. If you don’t get your references’ permission, they might give you a bad review or ignore employers’ emails and calls.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about putting references on your CV. Or go right to our CV reference examples and template.

Do you put references on a CV?

Usually, you don’t put references on a CV because they take up space where your relevant work experience and skills should be. Also, most employers include a section on their application form for you to list your referees if they need them right away.

So only include references when you write your CV if the job advert tells you to or you need to fill blank space on the last page of your CV.

How to write references on your CV

The easiest way to write references on your CV is to use a CV maker that automatically lays them out for you. But if you’d rather write references on your CV yourself, either make a:

1. ‘References’ section on the last page
2. separate references letter page with the same formatting as your CV — using the same formatting helps the employer keep your application organised

Then, list each referee’s:

• name
• job title
• company name
• company mailing address
• phone number
• email
• relationship to you (for example, ‘John was my direct supervisor.’)

And here’s an example of how a reference should look on your CV:

Jameson Velazquez
Restaurant Manager
Jack’s Pizza
33 Eastern Rd
Hove
BN3 1JB
07123 456 789
[email protected]

Relationship: Jameson was my manager for 3 years.

But read the job advert carefully before putting references on your CV. The employer may ask you to only list your reference’s phone number or to leave off their company address.

How many references should you put on a CV?

You should put as many references as the employer asks for on your CV. But if the employer doesn’t give a number, put:

• 2–3 referees if you’re applying to most entry-to-mid-level management positions
• 3–5 referees if you’re targeting an upper-level management position

CV reference examples & template

Below are examples of references on the last page of a CV and on a separate page. You can download them as Word documents to use as templates for your own CV.

Or copy and paste the CV references template at the end of this section into your word processor.

CV references on the last page

This is an example of references on a CV’s final page, with the reference information highlighted. You can change all the information on this CV to make it your own:

Download CV Template with References

CV references on a separate page

Here’s how references look when formatted on a separate CV page (replace the highlighted parts with your information):

Download References Letter Template

CV references template

Already started writing your CV in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or another program? No problem. Copy and paste this template to professionally format your references on your CV: