Sponsored post by McLaren Recruitment
You've interviewed your preferred candidate, their experience looks right, and you're ready to make an offer.
Before you do, there’s one more step – the reference check.
You might be inclined to see a reference check as a purely administrative step, and it can be tempting to skip them, especially if you’re short on time.
But, despite the extra time it takes, we’d recommend you do at least two reference checks every time you hire. That extra effort to pick up the phone to a referee can make all the difference when it comes to confirming your initial impression or prompting you to pause.
Why reference checks matter
A good reference check can help you understand:
the candidate's actual responsibilities and level of experience
how they worked with colleagues and stakeholders
how they responded to feedback
how they handled pressure and competing priorities
their strengths and areas for development
how much supervision or support they needed
how they contributed to a team.
It can also uncover differences between someone's CV or interview and their previous experience.
For example, a candidate may describe themselves as an experienced people manager, while a former manager explains that their leadership experience was limited to a small team. Or their technical skills may not be quite as up-to-date as their CV implied.
Without reference checks, you may not discover until the person starts that they have less experience than expected, need more support, or struggle with an important part of the role.
Some roles also carry greater risks, particularly those involving finances, confidential information, vulnerable people or significant stakeholder relationships.
A reference check won't guarantee a successful hire, but it can help identify potential problems before you make the appointment.
Don't skip the check because you like the candidate
It's particularly easy to overlook references when you've found someone you really like.
The interviews have gone well, the panel is enthusiastic, and the candidate appears to have exactly the experience you're looking for. You may even have previous knowledge of them personally or through a friend, family member, colleague or professional network. It can be tempting in that case to move straight to an offer.
Our advice - stick to your process.
Checking a reference isn’t a sign that you don’t trust the candidate, or that you don’t trust the judgement of the person who referred them. It’s simply a process of checking your information and confirming your decision, which in most cases will be a positive one.
How to carry out reference checks ethically and effectively
1 Start with the candidate's permission
Before contacting anyone, make sure the candidate has given permission to approach their referees. This is particularly important if the candidate hasn't told their current employer that they're looking for another job and you have asked for a referee to be someone who can speak directly about their work, such as a manager or team leader.
2 Prepare your questions
Reference checks, especially if you are doing them on two or three preferred candidates before making a final decision, are more useful when they're structured rather than being an informal conversation that varies from candidate to candidate.
Here are some key questions to ask:
What were their main responsibilities? This might feel like you are just ticking off points from the candidate's CV, but it gives you a chance to check that experience is accurate and highlight any inconsistencies between the CV and interview answers and their real-life experience.
What were their key strengths and were there areas where they needed additional support or development? These are both questions you may have asked the candidate at interview, so asking their referee gives you another viewpoint to compare with. Other questions in this area might cover things like how they deal with pressure situations or deal with competing priorities or multiple tasks.
How did they work with colleagues, managers, clients or stakeholders? How did they contribute to the team and demonstrate the organisation’s values in their work? Skills and experience matter, but so does how someone works with others and contributes to the organisation. Where an organisation’s values guide its day-to-day work, it can be useful to ask how the referee saw those values reflected in the candidate’s actions.
Would you employ them again? This can be a useful question to finish with because it gives the referee a chance to sum up their overall view. If their answer comes with a caveat, such as “yes, depending on the role”, ask them to explain what they mean.
Avoid questions about someone's personal life or anything else that isn't relevant to their ability to do the work.
During the conversation, ask for specific examples. A referee may describe someone as an excellent communicator, highly organised or a strong team player. Ask what that looked like in practice or for a specific example the referee can remember that exemplifies the skills or experience they are talking about.
Listen to how the referee responds as well as to what they say. A pause, a change in tone or an answer that comes with a caveat may be worth exploring, particularly if it follows a question about an important part of the role. It isn’t proof that something is wrong, so give the referee time and ask a neutral follow-up, such as “could you tell me a little more about that?”.
If the questions highlight inconsistencies between what the candidate told you and what the referee is saying, or raise cause for concern, ask for clarification or further information. There might be a logical explanation.
3 Give the referee room to talk
Once you've covered your questions, give the referee an opportunity to raise anything else they think is relevant.
You could ask:
“Is there anything else you think would be useful for us to know as we consider them for this role?”
They may have nothing to add, or they may raise something you hadn't thought to ask about.
4 Keep the information confidential
Keep your notes and the information you receive secure and handle them appropriately.
If the reference check raises an issue that you need to clarify with the candidate, check with the referee if they are happy for you to tell the candidate where the information came from. If not, ensure you ask for clarification in a way that does not reveal the source.
Reference checks won't remove all the uncertainty from a hiring decision. But they do give you extra information on which to base your decision. In our opinion, that makes them worth doing.
Want some assistance with your recruitment process? The team at McLaren Recruitment specialise in recruitment for not-for-profit organisations, charities and membership organisations. They have been connecting organisations and job seekers for more than 30 years. During that time, they have developed a strong reputation for their understanding of the for-purpose sector’s needs and challenges and their personal touch.