Checking references is one of the most important steps in the overall hiring process. This is the phase of the procedure that should never be taken lightly. You’ll gain a great deal of detailed information during this meeting with a previous boss. Use it to your advantage to ensure you hire the best candidate for the available position.
Below, you’ll find several tips that will help you apply best practices when checking these references. Looking for the best small business applicant tracking system? Continue reading to see how Recruiteze can help you for free!
Best Practices for Checking References
- Professionalism: You’re going to want to get to the bottom of the candidate’s past experiences but you don’t want to sound like an interrogator. Remember to be professional and ask questions that will work to your advantage without sounding like you’re fishing for issues.
- Identify: Are there warning signs that led to negative feedback? Look for things like “I’d rather not comment,” “He was a fairly consistent worker,” or “I don’t want to be negative”. These signs should be a warning that they’re withholding information from you.
- Cross Reference: It’s likely you asked the candidate what their last boss would say about them when you call. Be sure to make special note of this and then cross reference it with what the previous manager actually says. This can really offer a sense of how in tune this applicant actually is with how others perceive them.
In addition to using these best practices during a reference check, be sure to plan out your meeting with them, before actually calling. You’ll find that this will help the flow of the overall conversation and ensure that you get the information you were hoping to receive. This will also help keep you on track and professional. Verify their past work history and experiences, ask questions that you may have and don’t forget to ask for secondary references if they’re needed.
Use these best practices to help you hire the best candidate for the job. Remember, checking references is one of the most important steps of the recruiting process. Don’t make the mistake of failing to ask the right questions or identify negativity. If you’re interested in learning more about reference checks, visit back with our previous blogs and check back for future posts!
Try Our Free Small Business Applicant Tracking System – Try Recruiteze Today!
Do you need help choosing the right recruiting software for your HR department or recruiting firm? Make the right choice by using Recruiteze! Recruiteze is a powerful small business applicant tracking system. It allows your job candidates to apply to open positions and be added to your talent database immediately. As an end-user, you’ll be able to go online anytime and access your candidate’s resumes, as well as make any necessary changes. We make recruiting easy because Recruiteze also comes with a custom job board. It allows candidates and customers easy access to information and creates a level of professionalism expected in today’s marketplace.
iReformat allows you to format up to 10 resumes per month for free! In addition, we are proud to offer you a free 15 day trial of any of our other memberships. Other packages start at $10 per month and offer unlimited support, users, and more!
We’ve taken the redundant administrative work out of recruiting. Don’t hesitate to use Recruiteze and iReformat to help reduce the time consuming process of hiring new employees and filtering through resumes and applications. If you have any questions or are interested in our enterprise package that offers unlimited access to all our services contact us today!