I wrote the original post for this thread and am reposting it here:
As I've mentioned in other posts in this forum, I believe there are two markets for IT consulting services. There is the commodity market and the premium market. The difference between the two can be defined by the size of the company, and whether or not the company has and maintains a sizeable IT staff. The bigger the company, the more likely they are a part of the commodity market.
Ok, the subject of this post is references. Who to give them to, when to give them, and why to give them.
First, the who. If you are working in the commodity market, you are most likely going to be asked for references by the recruiter from the staffing firm, broker, or body shop firm you are working with. The reason you are being asked is because these firms attempt to provide value to the customer by screening the contractors/consultants before they are offered to the client. This is part of their human resources solution.
In most cases, if you want to proceed with the staffing firm, broker, or body shop, you aren't going to have a choice as to whether or not to give them your references and when to give them. You can try to delay handing over your references until you the client expresses interest in your resume and wants to interview you. In many cases, the staffing firm, broker, or body shop will not submit your resume until after you have handed over your references.
You can try explaining to the firm that if you hand over your references to each recruiter before there is any interest, then your references will become apathetic about giving you a good reference due to the volume of calls s/he is receiving. This may buy you some time and may convince the recruiter to delay checking your references until later.
The ideal situation would be for the recruiter to not ask for your references until after you have interviewed with the client, and there was interest expressed in hiring you. This ideal situation only happens on rare occasions.
Remember that the recruiter isn't checking your references for the staffing agency, broker, or body shop; s/he is checking them for the client. Consequently, if they check the references before there is interest from the client, then they are doing you and your references a disservice.
If you do speak with the client, you may want to tell them about the recruiter and staffing agency/body shop/broker. Tell them how they harassed you into giving references before there was interest. Doing so may result in the client putting pressure on the recruiter to be more considerate about the way they handle your references.
References in the commodity market are typically past co-workers or client managers who can speak about your work ethic and knowledge level. They can discuss what role you served on the team, and how you performed to some extent.
So, that's the basic low-down about references in the commodity market. The premium market is a whole different kettle of fish.
You may be asked to provide references in the premium market. This will usually be done by the business manager or business owner after you have had one or more sales calls, and s/he has interest in hiring you to do some work. In my experience, in the premium market, the client never asks to see references before they are ready to make a buying decision. So, if they are asking for references, it's a sign of interest.
Your references in the premium market should be business managers or business owners who can speak about projects you performed for them in the past, and the positive impact you're work had on their business. They will talk about the solution you delivered to the company, how much that solution cost, and whether or not you delivered on time and on budget.
