The issue of references is a great topic and often simply overlooked or not viewed as such an important piece of critical data. References can be your Ally or your Enemy in the game of “Recruiting Warfare

I can’t tell you how often I have actually heard, “who checks those references anyway, I know he/she is the right fit” or even this one, “I verified their previous employers”  and even worse  “I’ve already made the offer.”

It is so easy to go thru your process of recruiting – screening- qualifying – hiring, that you start to become a bit numb to references. Especially since in this day and time, most companies are vague at best on what they will say or release concerning a previous employee. You’re lucky if you get a response at all, and often times it can take days or weeks, and when you’re recruiting in a hot market, who has time?   Well there are some things you can do to not only overcome the stereotypical “reference list”. But you can use references and names as a recruiting warfare tactic.

After interviewing for a position as a Sr Project Manager position with a large General Contracting firm that does high profile projects nationwide. This particular candidate when asked for his references proceeded to give me a list of 8 names.  Which at first glance looked amazing, (I’m thinking great, I didn’t have to prod him for more names) until… I realized that none of which were his previous: Directors of Construction, VP’s or CEO’s, which at his level, (Sr Project Manager) would have been most appropriate. For me this was a red flag, after further questioning and a little R&R (aka Recruiting Reconnaissance) on my own, it turns out that 3 of the last 5 job departures where not exactly amicable and not how he portrayed them initially.”

“Because we don’t simply accept just your basic (3) business and (3) personally references, which can be very industry standard in hiring, we are able to dig deeper and uncover more. This allows us to make a more intelligent and well thought out decision on the viability of the candidate for introduction to our client.”

“We make sure to ask for specific people that the candidate had mentioned in earlier interviews as their Manager or whom they reported directly to.  It’s important to ask questions in the interview process like, who did you report to? And get the name of the person & the time frame they worked together.  Then we will typically ask the candidate for additional reference than what they initially offer, including the names of those persons referenced in the interview early. Often we will sometimes locate them on www.LinkedIn.com on our own and seek a “soft” reference. It’s a great way to engage in conversation about your prospective candidate”

“Especially in the construction market in particular it’s also beneficial to inquire into owner, architect and sub-contracting relationships and references.  Again, if you know the major players on their biggest most recent project (hint hint: because you ask those questions in the interview), you can easily ask for the Owners, Architects, PMs or foreman that your candidate worked directly with. These can be down line employees or cross line vendors & suppliers in other industries. These “horizontal references” can tell you a lot about your candidate.”

Tactical Recruiting tip:  References are more than just glorified versions of who your candidate wants to perceive themselves as being (anyone can give you a list of the people that like them and will sing their praises), a great recruiter will go deeper and get the references that will help expose more of who your candidate really is in the workplace:  sometimes this will reveal their relational business day to day demeanor as well as their personal attributes and character.

Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Candidate’s References.

Straightforward questions at first in order to establish rapport, then moving on to more substantive, open-ended topics.

1. Verify the candidate’s dates of employment, title, and role.

2. Is the candidate eligible for rehire? Why or why not? What was his or her reason for leaving?

3. Determine the candidate’s advancement in the company; did he or she receive any promotions or demotions, or did she remain in the same role throughout her tenure?

4. What was the candidate’s beginning and ending salary? How often did the candidate receive salary increases?

5. What kind of duties and responsibilities were assigned to the candidate? Did he or she complete them satisfactorily? Did they go above and beyond what was required without being asked?

6.What were the candidate’s strengths as an employee? Would you describe him or her a hard worker?

7. Ask the reference to evaluate the employee’s performance the tasks likely to be assigned in the new position.

8. Was the employee punctual? Were there any issues with tardiness or absenteeism?

9. Did the employee get along well with her peers? With managers? With customers?

10. Is there anything else I should take into consideration before I hire this candidate?

Bonus Question:  Would you want to work directly with or for this person again ? Why or why not.

Because all is fair in love and references!