diff --git a/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py b/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py
index cce393d6c..e4b5b22ab 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@
 from google.cloud import exceptions
 from google.cloud.client import ClientWithProject
 
+from google.cloud.bigquery._helpers import _del_sub_prop
 from google.cloud.bigquery._helpers import _get_sub_prop
 from google.cloud.bigquery._helpers import _record_field_to_json
 from google.cloud.bigquery._helpers import _str_or_none
 from google.cloud.bigquery._helpers import _verify_job_config_type
-from google.cloud.bigquery._helpers import _del_sub_prop
 from google.cloud.bigquery._http import Connection
 from google.cloud.bigquery import _pandas_helpers
 from google.cloud.bigquery.dataset import Dataset
@@ -1619,6 +1619,7 @@ def create_job(self, job_config, retry=DEFAULT_RETRY, timeout=None):
             )
             destination = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["load", "destinationTable"])
             source_uris = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["load", "sourceUris"])
+            destination = TableReference.from_api_repr(destination)
             return self.load_table_from_uri(
                 source_uris,
                 destination,
@@ -1631,9 +1632,9 @@ def create_job(self, job_config, retry=DEFAULT_RETRY, timeout=None):
                 job_config
             )
             destination = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["copy", "destinationTable"])
+            destination = TableReference.from_api_repr(destination)
             sources = []
             source_configs = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["copy", "sourceTables"])
-
             if source_configs is None:
                 source_configs = [_get_sub_prop(job_config, ["copy", "sourceTable"])]
             for source_config in source_configs:
@@ -1651,10 +1652,13 @@ def create_job(self, job_config, retry=DEFAULT_RETRY, timeout=None):
                 job_config
             )
             source = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["extract", "sourceTable"])
-            source_type = "Table"
-            if not source:
+            if source:
+                source_type = "Table"
+                source = TableReference.from_api_repr(source)
+            else:
                 source = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["extract", "sourceModel"])
                 source_type = "Model"
+                source = ModelReference.from_api_repr(source)
             destination_uris = _get_sub_prop(job_config, ["extract", "destinationUris"])
             return self.extract_table(
                 source,
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_client.py b/tests/unit/test_client.py
index 2001ad42b..e507834f6 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_client.py
@@ -3573,21 +3573,28 @@ def test_delete_table_w_not_found_ok_true(self):
 
         conn.api_request.assert_called_with(method="DELETE", path=path, timeout=None)
 
-    def _create_job_helper(self, job_config, client_method):
+    def _create_job_helper(self, job_config):
+        from google.cloud.bigquery import _helpers
+
         creds = _make_credentials()
         http = object()
         client = self._make_one(project=self.PROJECT, credentials=creds, _http=http)
 
-        client._connection = make_connection()
-        rf1 = mock.Mock()
-        get_config_patch = mock.patch(
-            "google.cloud.bigquery.job._JobConfig.from_api_repr", return_value=rf1,
-        )
-        load_patch = mock.patch(client_method, autospec=True)
+        RESOURCE = {
+            "jobReference": {"projectId": self.PROJECT, "jobId": mock.ANY},
+            "configuration": job_config,
+        }
+        conn = client._connection = make_connection(RESOURCE)
+        client.create_job(job_config=job_config)
+        if "query" in job_config:
+            _helpers._del_sub_prop(job_config, ["query", "destinationTable"])
 
-        with load_patch as client_method, get_config_patch:
-            client.create_job(job_config=job_config)
-        client_method.assert_called_once()
+        conn.api_request.assert_called_once_with(
+            method="POST",
+            path="/projects/%s/jobs" % self.PROJECT,
+            data=RESOURCE,
+            timeout=None,
+        )
 
     def test_create_job_load_config(self):
         configuration = {
@@ -3601,9 +3608,7 @@ def test_create_job_load_config(self):
             }
         }
 
-        self._create_job_helper(
-            configuration, "google.cloud.bigquery.client.Client.load_table_from_uri"
-        )
+        self._create_job_helper(configuration)
 
     def test_create_job_copy_config(self):
         configuration = {
@@ -3623,9 +3628,7 @@ def test_create_job_copy_config(self):
             }
         }
 
-        self._create_job_helper(
-            configuration, "google.cloud.bigquery.client.Client.copy_table",
-        )
+        self._create_job_helper(configuration)
 
     def test_create_job_copy_config_w_single_source(self):
         configuration = {
@@ -3643,9 +3646,7 @@ def test_create_job_copy_config_w_single_source(self):
             }
         }
 
-        self._create_job_helper(
-            configuration, "google.cloud.bigquery.client.Client.copy_table",
-        )
+        self._create_job_helper(configuration)
 
     def test_create_job_extract_config(self):
         configuration = {
@@ -3658,9 +3659,7 @@ def test_create_job_extract_config(self):
                 "destinationUris": ["gs://test_bucket/dst_object*"],
             }
         }
-        self._create_job_helper(
-            configuration, "google.cloud.bigquery.client.Client.extract_table",
-        )
+        self._create_job_helper(configuration)
 
     def test_create_job_extract_config_for_model(self):
         configuration = {
@@ -3673,17 +3672,17 @@ def test_create_job_extract_config_for_model(self):
                 "destinationUris": ["gs://test_bucket/dst_object*"],
             }
         }
-        self._create_job_helper(
-            configuration, "google.cloud.bigquery.client.Client.extract_table",
-        )
+        self._create_job_helper(configuration)
 
     def test_create_job_query_config(self):
         configuration = {
-            "query": {"query": "query", "destinationTable": {"tableId": "table_id"}}
+            "query": {
+                "query": "query",
+                "destinationTable": {"tableId": "table_id"},
+                "useLegacySql": False,
+            }
         }
-        self._create_job_helper(
-            configuration, "google.cloud.bigquery.client.Client.query",
-        )
+        self._create_job_helper(configuration)
 
     def test_create_job_query_config_w_rateLimitExceeded_error(self):
         from google.cloud.exceptions import Forbidden