Applicants should always provide solid references—people who can extol all of your virtues, but can be fair about your flaws—to increase their chances of being hired.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., JD, SPHR, is Chairman of the Society for Human Resource Management and Senior Vice President of Human Resources for IAC/InterActiveCorp, the parent company to companies like Ticketmaster.com, LendingTree.com, AskJeeves, and Home Shopping Network. Photo © istock/Matjaz Boncina