Thorough Reference Checks Help Facilitate Informed Hiring Decisions

Keeping talent acquisition costs within reason means that hiring decisions need to be informed decisions.  A thorough reference check is key to gaining the information needed to decide whether to hire or not.  This age-old process is still one of your best opportunities to glean insights from your selected finalist’s former managers, peers, and subordinates about their knowledge of your finalist’s competencies, fit, experience, and integrity.

The QualiFind Group expects candidates to have a minimum of five professional references.  It should be safe to assume that experienced candidates can provide at least two former managers (preferably three), one or two peers, and one or two subordinates.  More commercial roles may benefit from gaining insights from customers, vendors, and other centers of influence.   Remember that the candidate’s confidentiality will prevent you from getting insights from their current management or peer relationships.

A comprehensive reference check should allow you to validate resume integrity, job performance, skill confirmation, and psychological & cultural fit.  Perhaps more importantly, you will want to… listen for what is not said.

1. Integrity of the Resume.  Assume that at least half of the resumes in your shortlist contain intentional distortions or exaggerations.  To determine truth from fiction, you need to hear from those who would have the insights to validate the claims made on the resume or in the interview process.  Given that past performance is an indicator of future performance, the reference-checking process allows you to validate the accuracy of accomplishments and the candidate’s integrity.
   Two key areas to verify are the person’s employment history and educational background.  If discrepancies are found, you will want to explore whether it was a typographical error or a purposeful attempt at misrepresentation.

2. Performance Assessment.  By carefully crafting questions to elicit detailed responses from former managers, peers, and subordinates, you should gain insights into your desired hire’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall effectiveness on the job.  You will also want to solicit insights into the person’s work ethic, reliability and punctuality.

3. Skill Confirmation.  It’s possible to integrate questions regarding a candidate’s job performance that can provide you with insights into their technical skills and proficiency.  We generally find that active candidates or candidates in transition sometimes exaggerate their technical skills, especially when it’s perceived the hiring manager isn’t able to assess their proficiency.
   You will also want to hear your references speak to your candidate’s soft skills in such areas as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, adaptability, and creativity.

4. Psychological & Cultural fit.  References are invaluable for understanding whether your finalist fits into the company’s organizational and work culture.  It’s a great opportunity to see how references view your finalist’s fit regarding approach to work, personality, interactions with colleagues, management style, behavior under pressure, and ability to adapt to cultural variations.

5. Red Flags and Concerns.  If you have lingering concerns after your interviews, a carefully conducted reference check can help you clarify or validate why a candidate departed or was terminated from a previous employer.  You will also want to determine if there are any issues that did not surface in the interview process such as behavioral, frequent absenteeism, or ethical concerns.

6. Listening for the unspoken.  It is important to value and respect the reference’s time in the reference-checking process, so keep written or verbal questions to a minimum.  Scheduling a phone or video call in addition to written questions can give you even greater insights into what the reference doesn’t say.  References that provide vague and ambiguous responses often signal to the interviewer that they know potentially negative information but are afraid to state it for fear of legal complications.  What a reference fails to say is often just as important as what is actually said.  Use your instincts and emotional intelligence to discern the subtleties that could either validate or invalidate your candidate’s position as a finalist.

Our recommendations outlined above have natural variations, so consider this generalized advice.  I encourage you to contact us for more details on refining your strategy for reference checks and making more informed hiring decisions.

– Xochilt Acosta

---