How to Get the Truth From References

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  1

  Thad.Juszczak@...

  07/17/08 | Reported as spam

  how to get anything from the references

  Regardless of the question, the typical answer is "it is our policy only to confirm that the person worked for us on these dates."

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  2

  tstudebaker

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  How to get the truth and the laws.

  Not only is that the typical answer? It is also the law in MOST states.

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  3

  mdshaver

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  How to get the truth from a reference

  I agree, and it should be. Probing in the way that the article suggests could lead to trouble for both the questioner and the reference.

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  4

  pingpaul

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  Job-Related Questions

  How do we check for the person who has made violent threats against a coworker at his former employer? Typically, police are not called unless the threats are carried out. Even then, unless there is a formal charge, there is no criminal record. In today's stressful work environments, workplace violence is a fact, not a baseless fear.

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  5

  R Carter

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  Threats

  If you have a feeling that the person you are about to hire is violent don't hire them, go with you gut. But if you are basing you gut feelings on stereotypes and fears then you should not being in HR; you may be harbouring sexist or racist feeling which have no more place in the work place than violence.
  
  Too often good people are passed over because of unfounded fears or prejudices. These unfounded stereotypes and fears hurt us all and make the workplace more dangerous not less.

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  6

  robin.shaffer@...

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  Missing the Point...

  While what you posted is true, often references are colleagues, former customers, classmates and the like. Employment law statutes don't cover such conversations. Slander and defamation, yes, but then why would someone list a person as a reference other than to get favorable comments.

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  7

  Christi.Lane@...

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  I think that anyone who is HR savvy is not going to respond outside of eligible or non-eligible to the question, "Would you rehire him?"

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  8

  R Carter

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  Rehirable

  This too is a slippery slope to try to climb. I'd stay clear and give the standard dates worked and move on.

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  9

  robinsalter

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  the most revealing and helpful question I ask references is this: "Is there anything that I haven't asked you that might be helpful to me in making this decision?"
  
  Robin Salter
  Concentric Consulting Services
  robin@concentricconsultingusa.com

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  10

  squash7733

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  How to Get the Truth From References

  This assumes that the candidate is going for a quite similar job - which is probably unlikely as s/he is leaving the previous employer.
  
  Do you get replies pointing to the candidate's persona/behavioural characteristics or his/her professional performances? - curious to know.

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  11

  R Carter

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  Questions

  I would bring action not only against you but also my former employer. If I was successful in an action against a former employer in say a retaliation suit for whistler blowing and you asked said question and based your action to not hire me on their response what good have you done to this guy who was trying to dothe right thing, say he blew the whiste on a company that was making toys that killed kids; does that make you complicit

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  12

  trumeter

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Two questions I use: What was his/her biggest weakness? How do they handle failure (and what was it)?

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  13

  jgnazzo

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  I use a technique borrowed from a technique I have seen work when doing security clearance checks.
  
  Ask the reference for other additional contacts who knew the potential hire. usually a potential hire will only list references that will likely give a positive view. If you ask for others, you will likely fall upon people with additional opinions.

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  14

  dave.stein@...

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  A few points:
  
  We recommend using LinkedIn to see whether you're connected with anyone that might have worked with the candidate. If you find a blind reference like that, they are much more likely to share information with you.
  
  Another approach is to say to the reference (only if it's true), "We are strongly considering hiring Fred. If we do, both for Fred's sake and ours, we want to make certain he is successful. In what area might Fred need support or coaching during the first few months?" You're really asking for weaknesses here, but it's worked more often than not for us.

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  15

  youdeg

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Maybe the best way is to impose some cost on the reference such as credit or other similars.

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  16

  cooperma

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Check out Skill Survey (www.skillsurvey.com) -- they have an online reference checking system that we've found to be much more consistent and valuable than traditional reference checks. The candidate enters references, then they receive a quick online survey that combines multiple choice and open-ended questions. It then consolidates all of the data and spits out a report with all the data. If you want to get into more detail you have all the contact information to ask more specific questions. Accolo made 1,500 hires last year, and we use this as the best practice for our clients.
  
  Matt Cooper
  VP - Strategy & Operations
  Accolo
  www.accolo.com

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  17

  Talent Talk

  07/17/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Fantastic! Thanks Jennifer!
  
  Nick

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  18

  jsargent

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  What are you expecting?

  I always thought that references were quite useless. What are you expecting from references? If a reference is unwilling what will this tell you about the new hire? What if the reference says "just between you and me I think the guy is a weazle!" ? what do you think about that? What does it tell you about the hire or the reference?
  
  I'd be interested in feedback on these question
  Besides, what happened to trusting your instincts and trying out the new hire for a month or two?

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  19

  ajerinsky@...

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  You have to be verry careful about what you say in response to any question about a past employee, you can be sued if you cause harm. I always like to put the candidate into a scenario and ask the past employer to rate how well they think the candidate might do.

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  20

  grumpywun

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  To Be safe from legal action when called for a refernce regarding a prior employee. Simply state start and end date, job position title, and salary, period.

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  21

  rtingler

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  Background check - References

  Include a call to the current or most recent employer, but concentrate on getting information from previous employers two and three. The current employer may be looking forward to getting rid of the applicant, and will save money if there is no unemployment period. If the applicant is unemployed, the most recent prior employer may be motivated to say neutral or good things about an underperforming employee to get that person off of unemployment compensation. Prior employers two and three may be more willing to tell the truth about your applicant.
  
  Another area of inquiry that all of the employers, and some of the personal references, should be willing to answer is verification of the dates of prior employment and education so that you know the timeline on the application matches what references are telling you. Some applicants will inlate the time on a job to pad their experience or to falsely account for gaps in their work record that might put them in an unfavorable light. If you do not obtain school transcripts, the same approach should be used with references to verify school years and receipt of a diploma, particularly in a specific field of study.

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  22

  darren.maynard@...

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  If the refernce hired them into their company, I would ask the question :- 'What do you wish you had asked him/her when you interviewed them for the job in yoru company' In essence, what did you not know about them at teh tiem of hiring them that you foudn out later.

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  23

  Wes Ball

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Since the biggest danger is not how the person does the job, but rather what effect he will have on the rest of the team, I like to ask, "What differences did you notice in the team after he started working there?" "What differences did you notice over time that you could attribute to his being there?"
  
  Wes Ball
  Author, "The Alpha Factor - a revolutionary new look at what really creates market dominance and self-sustaining success."

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  24

  miyahira

  07/18/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  I think this list of questions is just pie in the sky. No employer or reference is going to risk a lawsuit by giving anything more than rank and file; not even serial number.

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  25

  dclemens2

  07/19/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Obviously, the art of referencing is getting accurate information from sources that are either policy-limited in what they can reveal or overtly candidate-friendly -- because the candidate is the one providing the reference sources, after all. If the reference is policy-limited in what they can say or an out-sourced, automated type of data response, you are going to be required to do some detective work to find an informative reference or lean on the candidate to provide a contact who can/will talk to you.
  
  Having said all of that, a resourceful referencer can discover a lot more than the candidate ever intended the reference to reveal about them if the referencer is persistent and receptive to hearing subtle hints in the responses. Finally, during the interviews, I always ask who else the candidate worked with at former employers and, if I have questions about the value of the given references, I will track down some of those people and talk to them. When approached correctly, these "found" references will often provide helpful and honest information.
  
  A Referencer who throws in the towel with what the candidate and a former employer are offering is not doing his/her job. It is possible to conform with privacy concerns and still complete a meaningful reference process. It requires knowledge of the laws and a resourceful approach, which is all very time-consuming -- but if you aren't going to work the process to a satisfactory level of information acquisition, why bother at all?

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  VanessaCardenas

  07/20/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  I get the reference real comfortable with "easy" questions, then I hit them with "if you could coach them in any area what would it be? they are so flatter that I asked them something about themselves that they blurt out the truth without sugar coating it bbecause they weren't prepared for it.
  
  You would be surprised at the things I've learned about candidates..lucky for me I didn't hire those that had their references tell me things on this one question that lead to them not being hired.

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  27

  spettis

  07/21/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  It's probably already mentioned before but remember if you are a competitor of the company you are calling the reference might HELP give you bad information to "pass on" the bad employee to your company. Don't forget that you do not have any ties with this reference, and they do not owe you anything other than some information. While information is anc can be related to power, that power can easily fall or be sent to toe wrong hands (didn't mean to go all sci-fi on everyone).

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  28

  glaze0101

  07/24/08 | Report as spam

  The truth I got from this article

  In just reading the four questions purposed here I lost a level of respect for BNET. Here in 2008 the framing of questions by only referring to a job applicant as male is unacceptable. We must re-frame our speech patterns in the business world if women, and gender variant people, are ever going to treated as equals in the workplace. This needs to start with publications like BNET.

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  29

  roy jenkins

  07/25/08 | Report as spam

  worrying about sex

  To learn / benefit - read the message, forget the wording. What normal person talks about "gender variant" people? Come to that - what is "normal"?
  
  roy jenkins

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  monomodo

  08/15/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  In most European countries it is not only legal, but also something quite usual to reply openly to these 4 questions.
  
  It is then left to the reference's criterion whether to do so.
  
  Especially question 4, I have come accross that one quite a few times already...

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  31

  WayneBrush

  08/19/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  For us the trick should have been to listen to what the reference did say and read between the lines. He told us this salesperson would call anyone, no problem, even Michael Dell himself. Then he told us that the applicant needed her hand held and might need some extra support while getting started.
  
  The applicant came across as a little desperate, but we assumed that was because she had been unemployed for awhile after being layed off. Less than a month later we let the employee go because she just wasn't what we needed (not enough results and issues with the team). She went postal on us. Calling and leaving vicious voicemails about how we'd "tricked her," threats to sue, attacking the character of all the staff, and today she called a potential client and grilled him on whether or not he would be using our services - which she insists she should get a commission on, even though she only did some of the base work and our first meeting with him was a month after we let her go.
  
  She also insists that because she set up a meeting with someone in Dell, she should get commission on ALL our future work with Dell. Dell has been a long-time client for the last 9 years!
  
  In today's society where everyone is afraid to say anything to anyone about a former employee - listen if they say anything potentially negative at all!
  
  Mary Brush
  President
  www.id-one.net

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  32

  ackcoatue

  09/04/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  references are huge in my neck of the woods and i have to say, i've yet to make a hire where the references didn't forecast the outcome in some kindly edited and shaded way. it takes guts to tell someone the truth about their future hire or an employment situation, if someone is willing to talk to you, you should listen. i've been at the hiring stage on multiple candidates who didn't pan out in references, it hurts to go back to the pool, but not nearly as much as having to terminate someone who gave up a position to join you.
  
  my reference question of choice, on a scale from 1 - 10 with 10 being the highest how would you rate this individual. they give a 10 you can ignore everything that came before. long struggling pause, you can probably ignore some of what they said... but overall, you'll get a good idea of how the person rates based on how long it takes the referee to recover and answer.
  
  i dunno, that's my take.

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  33

  vrsarti

  09/04/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  While 75% of companies check references they are hardly an accurate predictor of success.
  
  Given the response from most people it can be difficult to learn anything either accurate or valuable.
  
  How do you get around that?
  1. You can set up a scenario where the candidate will give accurate information. Tell the candidate you are going to call their former boss as soon as the leave. By the right questioning you can get about as accurate a picture as you'd get anywhere.
  2. Look at their connections on the business networking sites and contact them. You might be surprised at what you can learn. And, those folks don't typically have a company policy that prevents them from giving only date of employment and salary information.
  3. Check their profiles on MySpace, Facebook,
  and other social networking sites. You'll get a more candid perspective by checking those sites and their friends. Again, the friends don't have the policy on what they can say. And, if you approach it right you'll get more than you ever imagined.

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  34

  harkul

  09/25/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  I have to say, while I see some ideas here,
  this whole reference business is almost like,
  if you really need to do all that calling and
  checking, should you either be in that position
  to hire people, or looking to hire this person
  at all? thing is, it depends a lot of course,
  the type of job and all that, but generally, I
  don't much care for the references, they are
  trumped up to begin with, and I only call them
  if I am really on the fence for some reason.
  Trust yourself. And follow up. Take
  responsibility.

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  35

  M.C.N

  10/01/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  What I have read so far;
  1.employer's are reliant upon references for candidate hiring.
  2.the interviewing techniques are not revealing enough to sway a decision either way.
  3.police checks are not thorough enough.
  4.citing of actual incidents and stereotypes.
  
  All four issues are not actually "issues".
  
  If you are reliant upon references because the first, second, third interview wasn't enough to reveal that the candidate was appropriate then MOVE ON. Perhaps look into behavioural interviewing techniques. Many, many companies are adopting the behavioural philosophy for one very good reason.
  *Behaviour is as behaviour does. By the mid twenties the percentage of individuals capable of real character/behavioural change tanks dramatically.
  
  If your company/organization requires a police check then perhaps its the kind of police check that requires reassessment. Vulnerable Sector checks run for mention of complaints against.
  
  The use of the term "Postal" is frankly offensive. Not only as slang/slander but also to any one in need of help to cope as well as victims of violence. If an individual is actually harassing the company or former colleagues/clients then take appropriate action and "Report It", perhaps taking the time to ensure that someone can provide a coping strategy to the person. If you don't think that's your problem then why does the other individual seem to think it is? Be part of the solution and perhaps there won't be a problem.
  
  References from employers are only meant to confirm that they actually worked there, and that you as an employer checked for said statistic,(paper trail, doing your job, etc). Any career savy individual should have a pocket full of references based on community and character. Use those to seek out the tough answers.
  
  On the flip side... References are actually useless. (also, when submitting the financials to the govt' for the individual it will confirm the work from and to dates) What makes the individual on the other end of a phone conversation (whom no one has met, checked the history of or will even remember the name of) any more reliable than the person actually interviewed with face time who has taken the time to sell themselves to you.
  
  Today it's about perception busting and barrier busting and solution bearing. It may be elusive but I'm sure it's out there...

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  36

  jenniferim

  10/09/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Excellent topic, too bad I found it so late.
  
  I have also found that when contacting references, they tend to be less then reliable in how an individual will perform under various circumstances.
  
  One question I usually ask is: "Was the candidate at any time during their employment significantly stressed due to deadlines or other job related factors? If so, how did them manage that stress level?
  
  Also, along the same line of questioning: How did other employees react to how the candidate managed this stressful situation.
  
  I think this tells volumes of not only the candidate, but also the validity of the reference.

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  37

  mktgpharma

  10/15/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  References....? It sounds like if your future wife would like to ask your ex-wife about your behaviour during your marriage.... You are opening the door to a revenge...
  
  When you ask for references, you should be happy if you can confirm how long the candidate worked for that company. In my country, you should be happy if you evn talk to the right person (most of the times, you speak with some pre-paid friend of the candidate ...)

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  38

  manojkhare@...

  10/15/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  To a hotly debated topic, here's my $0.02. First thing is, reference checks are only a part of your hiring process, along with experience/education details, personal interviews, psychometrics, compensation etc. This will decide what is the scope of the reference check you want.
  
  I agree with MCN and mktgpharma that checking for behaviors from a reference can be misleading due to (a) Withholding of information by the referee for various reasons mentioned here and (b) that will hardly predict how the employees behaves in the new environment.
  
  So, I collect and use the information from references as one of the factors in the hiring decision. But I do not go to great lengths to try and obtain insights (snoop?). This eliminates the tendency to take seat-of-the-pants decisions or be overly influenced by one of the factors in the hiring process. And also ensure that when the employee joins us, they feel adequately trusted.
  
  PS : The article certainly brought up several interesting comments!

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  39

  Somabot

  11/26/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  I have recently applied for a job requiring references, and I have to say that I object to some of these questions for a couple of reasons:
  
  1 - An individual's opinion of you can be unpredictable, and may not reflect your true potential
  
  2 - Often the best references are prohibited by law to give any relevant information due to corporate policy
  
  3 - An individual may be unreachable even after the candidate has secured the reference availability, which could inadvertently reflect negatively on the candidate
  
  4 - Frankly it places undue stress on the candidate, who in many cases uses considerable preparation time to apply for the position, and may delay the decision process resulting in monetary losses for both parties
  
  5 - An indepth interview, background and drug screen should be enough

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  40

  steveo@...

  12/03/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  from a Dilbert cartoon:
  
  "Hi. I'm calling to check the references of your ex-employee named Ted."
  
  "We have a company policy against giving references, but I'd be happy to discuss the weather with you.
  
  "Okay..."
  
  "The clouds are moving lazily across the sky, and everything thinks they're stupid."

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  41

  jerang@...

  12/04/08 | Report as spam

  RE: How to Get the Truth From References

  Great post Jessica!! Will be sure to use this knowledge when hiring my next intern.