A reference is trust you’re borrowing from someone else. Don’t make them regret lending it.

When someone puts their name next to yours, they hand over a piece of their own standing. If you turn up late or quit in week two, the cost does not land only on you. It lands on them, with the person who took their word, and they will be slower to do it for the next kid who asks.

Tell whoever is backing you what you have applied for, so they are not caught off guard by a call. Do the job properly for the first month in particular. Then go back and tell them how it went, which almost nobody does.