The Real Purpose for Checking References
In just about every in-house company workshop we conduct on hiring, ( See our University for workshops), sooner or later the topic of reference checking comes up. Usually someone will ask, “Isn’t reference checking a waste of time? After all, the person is only going to give you someone that will say positive things.” As with many hiring managers today they are checking references the same way they have been for the last 50 years.
This comment is valid if you are going to do the standard reference check. You know, the one that asks the same questions Moses asked when he checked references. Such as:
- Would you rehire them?
- Do they communicate well?
- What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- What are their technical skills?
- How would you compare them on a scale of 1 to 10 to their peers?
I’m sure you have different questions to ask, so please don’t reply to me with your favorite reference checking questions as that isn’t the purpose of this article. That may be another article for discussion.
This one is on the purpose for checking references, not the questions to ask. Why even conduct a reference check if the question in the first paragraph is valid? Why take the time since you know what the person is going to say?
Our contention is that the list of reference checking questions above are nice things to know, and these are not bad questions, but they don’t get to the heart of why one should conduct reference checks. Here’s why you should check references, “What percentage of candidates do you believe embellish or exaggerate during the hiring process?” If you immediately thought of a number higher than 10% then that is the reason for doing reference checking.
Reference checking should be used to validate that what the candidate told you during the interview was something they really did do and that they did it to the extent they described during the interview. That is what you want to obtain from a reference, because if the candidate is embellishing or misleading, all the other questions are irrelevant. You should not hire them. If they aren’t embellishing or misleading, then the other questions become relevant.
Reference checking is part of the validation step of a good hiring process (such as our Success Factor Methodology). Hiring managers need to validate that what candidates tell them during the interview is true. One way to do this is by talking to a reference and asking them about what the candidate told you during the interview. You can ask the reference, “Mary mentioned to me that she was the lead person implementing the new system in North America. Can you describe for me her role and what she accomplished in this implementation?” Does the reference’s story match up to what the candidate said? Do the time frames agree? Does the reference validate the outcome, the scope of the project, the scope of what Mary did, the budget, the challenges, etc?
If it does, Mary didn’t embellish. If it doesn’t, then you have a decision to make.
You can obtain from our Web site our “8 Point Validation Reference Checking Matrix” to use the next time you or someone on your team needs to check a reference.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
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Tags: Reference checking, references
Validation and Verification | bradremillard November 3, 2009
About the Author
Brad Remillard is a founding Partner of IMPACT Hiring Solutions, co-author of "You're NOT the Person I Hired", and "This is NOT the Position I Accepted". Brad is an award-winning international speaker, retained executive recruiter, and expert on hiring and retaining top talent, and executive job search.
8 Comments to “The Real Purpose for Checking References”
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By Dave Gloude, November 3, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
Brad, you are right on with this article. So often managers and executives trust their senses and intellect to determine if the candidate is truly “packing the gear.” And then when it comes to checking the accuracy of what the candidate said, the interviewer hasn’t recorded statements and notes with enough specificity to even be able to conduct a verification reference check. In addition, if an HR representative hasn’t been involved in the interview process, then the ability of the company to conduct a verification reference check, as you have correctly described, is really undermined since I have found that HR professionals usually do a better job of taking detailed notes during an interview. I will leave my comments about small panel interviews for a later time.
By bradremillard, November 4, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
Thanks Dave for the input.
By Nandita Negi Sankhla, November 4, 2009 @ 1:45 am
Hi!,
Though I agree with you….but wouldn’t this leave a negative impression with the candidate as he/she can always check with his/her reference later….this could put some people on the offensive!
Would like to know your thoughts on this.
Rgds
Nandita
By bradremillard, November 4, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
Nandita
I don’t think there is anything negative and I would never present it to a candidate that I think they might be embellishing.
I am just suggesting that most reference checking is more box checking. Rather what really should be done is validate what the candidate said.
By Dani R. Apple, November 4, 2009 @ 7:55 am
Brad,
I agree with your assessment of the importance of reference checking. The basic questions are helpful, but the digging into what the candidate really achieved at former employers and validating that information vs what he/she told you in your qualifying discussion is the info you should use to decide whether you should work with or submit the candidate to clients. If they claim one thing and the reality is somewhat different, not a red flag, however if they embellish to the point where their achievements are considerably different than stated, you have a problem. In a tough interview with a client, the truth about what they can do will come out and at that point you have wasted time and money and lost credibility with you client for your lack of “due diligence” in your qualifying process.
Dani Apple
MRI/Myrtle Beach, Inc.
By Chuck Brewer, November 5, 2009 @ 2:24 am
“Trust and Verify” …. Ron Regan while dealing with Russian Treaty
I have found that a call to a past supervisor gives me a better understanding as how to manage my new employee.
By Michael, November 16, 2009 @ 7:28 pm
Good points in your article. Does modern reference checking take into account the existance of “professional” references (i.e. people who will claim to be a nonexistant supervisor for a nonexistant company, who will claim the candidate worked for them and did whatever the candidate says on their resume)? I recall these individuals existed back in the 90s, and with the Internet still in its infancy, weeding them out must have been difficult if not impossible. I can imagine that this job seeker service still exists today and has only become more sophisticated.
By jason, May 1, 2010 @ 8:14 pm
those are some great refrence questions – I like the one ‘Would you re-hire them?”