Job Referencing Question:

Always ask permission to use someone as a reference. If the employer calls and the person on your list is surprised, it will not look very professional to the employer.
References like it when you call them before they are likely to be contacted, just to give them a "heads up" about the potential call. They want to hear about the job, the company and how the interview went. At this point in my own job hunts, I always briefed them on the kinds of questions they were likely to get. I also told them about any perceived weakness my interviewers might want to probe. By collaborating with my references, they were fully prepared when the call came through.