Employers check references primarily to ensure your qualifications are genuine, your employment history is honest and to check if you have performed essential job functions. Such screening process is a way to verify your application and gives a wider understanding of the candidate.
CareerBuilder found that 69 percent of employers have changed their mind about a candidate after checking references. Even a little information can mean a lot and can thus avoid fatal hiring mistakes. We know how valuable and life-saving reference checks are. Here’s how to conduct a reference check so that you get information
- Get permission from the candidate to check the references. Call current employers last, particularly if the supervisor does not know they’re a looking for a change.
- Most of the organizations today provide only dates and the position held during employment as a reference check. You can use this opportunity to ask about the position he held instead of talking about the individual. The best questions are mostly open- ended questions.
- Questions related to candidate’s age, race or religion should be avoided at all times. This may be lead to legal risks.
- Employers can either use a reference check form or call the Organization to perform reference checks. Questions for reference checks can be based to collect Hard (Responsibilities, skills and competencies) and Qualitative data (Strengths, management styles and communication).Your goal here is to talk to individuals who have worked with the prospective candidate for a decent amount of time.
- Be sure to check their Linked-in profiles to get insights on the candidate. The endorsement in LinkedIn will also help us understand about his job duties and assignments he worked in the past.
Taking additional time to conduct a reference check can mean the difference between hiring the right candidate than losing time and productivity by hiring the wrong one. It is crucial to do the due diligence and try and check the references in every way we can.