| Good job candidates aren’t necessarily good at interviews. And good
interviewees aren’t necessarily the best people for the job. That’s why we have
found that it is absolutely essential to do a reference check on all potential hires. The
typical one-on-one job interview often simply doesn’t tell all you need to know about
the candidate’s qualifications or past work history.
You got the story from Joe’s
side during the interview—what he did and for whom he did it. Now it’s time to
get the other side of the story in the reference check. Don’t settle for generalities
when you speak with Joe’s former employer. If you ask, "What kind of a guy is
Joe," you’ll be told, "Well, Joe is a great guy." But you won’t
know more than you did before.
Better way:
Say, "Joe tells me he managed a store for you at XYZ Co. Please tell me in your own
words what duties were involved and about the role Joe played. Was he a good manager? How
did he work with other people? How well did he handle pressure?"
Caution:
Don’t let the reference-provider get away with value judgments, such as, "Joe is
a hard worker." Push for examples of why that value judgment was made. "Why do
you think Joe was a hard worker? Why do you think Joe has good team skills? Can you
provide examples to validate those judgments?"
When it comes to checking
references, you can ask any reasonable question you want. There are few legal hurdles to
checking out a job candidate with anyone you choose to ask. Most employers fear giving out
negative information about a job candidate. Many states have passed laws shielding
reference providers from legal action by former employees. But in none of these states is
the protection from lawsuit unconditional, so many companies maintain stringent
reference-giving policies. And that usually means not saying anything even remotely
negative when a reference checker calls.
Helpful: Keep
in mind that companies fear legal action for giving out derogatory information about a
past employee. If you run into resistance when you check a reference, that alone is a clue
that Joe’s work may not be all he said it was.
Rule of thumb: It
has never happened in all my years in business that a good candidate couldn’t produce
references willing to speak up on his behalf. The only candidates who couldn’t
provide check-able references were candidates who were average or worse.
Fear of lawsuits makes reference
checking harder than ever these days. That means you’ll have to exercise a little
caution and dig a bit deeper. Here are some tips:
Obtain job candidates’
written permission to check references. Consider asking an applicant to sign a liability
waiver for employers who give reference-checking information.
Gather as much historical factual
data as possible from the employee and past employers. Past success predicts future
success.
Beware of inaccuracies. What to
look for more than anything else is integrity. It’s the number one criteria for
success.
Talk to former supervisors,
peers, and if appropriate, subordinates. You want to find out what they’re like to
work with and for.
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