If you are like most people looking for work, you probably haven't given your references much thought. Instead, you have focused on your resume, interviewing skills, networking, and what to wear to the interview. However, in these days of tighter job markets and increased security risks, you can be almost certain that you will be investigated by a prospective employer. As a rule of thumb: the better the job and the higher the pay, the tougher the screening process will be for prospective employees. When a prospective employer has completed the first round of interviews and you are among the top candidates, its next logical step is to check your references and interview those individuals to whom you reported. Your biggest concern should be the quality of your references and recommendations from past employers, because they can make or break your chances of finding future employment. About half of all references that get checked range from mediocre to poor, so it is very possible that the job you lost out on at the last moment had nothing to do with your skill level. It could have had more to do with what a reference or past employer said about you.