Use references as another source of information for your hiring decisions. References should be used at the end of your hiring process, because they can be quite time-consuming and candidates might object to providing them until later.
While conducting your reference calls, remember to:
- Interpret responses with a grain of salt, because candidates typically provide their friendliest contacts as references. Ask for quantifiable results and/or specific examples.
- Respect your candidate’s right to privacy and notify candidates when you are about to start contacting their references.
- Be as thorough as possible with their references.
Sample Reference Check Questions
- Are you open to speaking about this candidate and sharing information?
- What were the responsibilities of this candidate’s position at your company? How well were the above duties performed, when compared with your expectations and past experience?
- What are some specific examples as to how they saved or made the company money. Would their supervisor think they had a positive ROI? Why?
- How would you rank this candidate against others who do the same sort of work? Why?
- Does this person typically work alone, or as part of a team?
- What was this candidate’s attendance schedule? Were they on time and dependable?
- What does this candidate do to cope with stress?
- Can you describe some examples of when this person exhibited high performance, or exceeded expectations? What are this candidate’s three strongest qualities?
- Describe some instances when this person performed below expectations? How did you communicate these with the candidate and how did they respond?
- If given the opportunity, would you rehire this person? Why or why not?
- Would you recommend this candidate for this position?
