Reference Check FAQs

I'm going through my first reference check experience and was curious to find out some questions in net. This is what I come up with.

When did (name) work for your company? Could you confirm starting and ending employment dates? When did s/he leave the company?
Why did (name) leave the company?
What was her/his starting and ending salary?
What was her/his position? Can you describe the job responsibilities?
Could I briefly review (name's) resume? Does the job title and job description match the position that (name) held?
Did (name) miss a lot of work? Was s/he frequently late? Were there any issues you are aware of that impacted her/his job performance?
Did s/he get along well with management and co-workers?
Was (name) promoted while with your company?
Did (name) supervise other employees? How effectively? If I spoke to those employees, how do you think they would describe (name's) management style?
How did (name) handle conflict? How about pressure? Stress?
Did you evalute (name's) performance? Can you speak to his/her strong and weak points? What was noted as needing improvement during this performance review?
What was (name's) biggest accomplishment while working for your company?
Would you rehire (name) if the opportunity arose?
If I describe the position we are hiring for to you, could you describe how good a fit you think (name) would be for the position?
Can you describe this person's experience working as a member of a team?
Is there anything I haven't asked that you would like to share with me?
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Hope this helps.

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About half those questions are a rather grievous breach of privacy, if the former employer were to answer them without some agreement from the former employee.

It doesn't, I am sure, stop anyone from asking them ...

From my experiences (in the U.S.), I would refuse to answer most of them, very politely but firmly.

One of the very few questions that I would directly answer, apart from confirming the exact dates of employment:

Would you rehire (name) if the opportunity arose?

Nearly every question on this list is designed to encourage negative feedback, or fish for information from the former employer. The more I look at these, if someone was asking me about a former employee, I would more or less terminate the conversation about half way through this list.

the Admin

I like this Questiom

Did s/he get along well with management and co-workers?

What a waste!!!!!

This is very relative,and if the employee left the org. (which he did), i am not sure if he would get a very flattering remark..

Best is to ask your to-be employer, what kind of reference check is he going to conduct..If he gives you this list, i wouldnt join that org...

Administrator wrote:.

About half those questions are a rather grievous breach of privacy, if the former employer were to answer them without some agreement from the former employee.

It doesn't, I am sure, stop anyone from asking them ...

From my experiences (in the U.S.), I would refuse to answer most of them, very politely but firmly.

One of the very few questions that I would directly answer, apart from confirming the exact dates of employment:

Would you rehire (name) if the opportunity arose?

Nearly every question on this list is designed to encourage negative feedback, or fish for information from the former employer. The more I look at these, if someone was asking me about a former employee, I would more or less terminate the conversation about half way through this list.

the Admin

Dear Admin,
I agreed with your view, but I have read in some VAULT article that in UK, this is legally accept, and there are legal protection for employers who dicloses information about former employees. I wish I had the link.

ashishashah wrote:I like this Questiom

Did s/he get along well with management and co-workers?

What a waste!!!!!

This is very relative,and if the employee left the org. (which he did), i am not sure if he would get a very flattering remark..

Best is to ask your to-be employer, what kind of reference check is he going to conduct..If he gives you this list, i wouldnt join that org...

Ashish, I would, coz' I need the job.

.

Considering that this Employment & Jobs segment of the forum is designed to be international, I added my commentary to try and open people's thinking on the topic.

Different activities are allowed - or, perhaps, practiced in the culture - in different countries, provinces, etc.

But, I think even in Britain some of those questions cross the line into breach of privacy. Answering some of those questions would be a serious liability for an employer. Should the former employee find out about the questions ... and the answers ... they could have substantial grounds to file and win a major liable case.

THAT is why I wouldn't answer most of those questions. I would never expose my organization to that sort of liability.


Re-reading the questions (yet again), I am struck that they seem to have been composed by an amateur hoping to pose as a professional. Really, some of those questions would be pure idiocy to ask.

Several are soliciting personal opinions regarding what other (third party) individuals are thinking. Any idiot relying on answers to those questions to evaluate a potential employee represents a serious liability to his own organization.

If I caught one of my people behaving like this, s/he would be looking for new employment. And, I would urgently suggest they NOT list me as one of their references.

the Admin

In the UK no one will give a bad reference since the pitfalls are too great plus they are probably glad to get rid....

I suppose a bad reference is potentially libellous and no referee wants to go down that road...

Ashish, I would, coz' I need the job.

Hsmp_maybe,

Sorry , i didnt want to offend you,but really i have seen such a reference check coming to me for one my sub ordinates who had left the org..I was quite reasonable.But what if your ex-boss writes that you were not coming on time/has issues with your collegues???Would you future employer believe you/ex-boss??...I have heard of many cases where ex-bosses have given -ve reference (not obvious ones ,but things like difficult to get along, bad attitude, not flexible enough etc..)
So ppl. who had left their jobs bcoz of this new offer were left high and dry as the new org. didnt recruit them bcoz of -ve ref. and they had resigned from their current job bocz of this offer..

Ashish

.

ashishashah wrote: [...] So ppl. who had left their jobs bcoz of this new offer were left high and dry as the new org. didnt recruit them bcoz of -ve ref. and they had resigned from their current job bocz of this offer..

Sorry. No sympathy.

NEVER resign until you have the new contract in-hand.

A job 'offer' isn't a job offer until the contract is signed.


By the way, just for jollies, I've hired about 20 people or so over the years.

I have never once called any of their references or former employers. My hiring decisions were all based purely upon the interviews. I cannot recall one person I hired where I later regretted it, but I do recall a number of prospectives that were a complete waste of my time during the interview process.

My interview process is generally... rigorous.

I suppose that means my opinion is that the person doing the hiring had better not be lazy, or otherwise unqualified for the responsibility.

the Admin

Guys,
I pretty new in the UK job scenario, and a bit confused about this reference check. This is what I did.

I fortunately had good relation with my ex-mgrs within my present company and they knew of my aspirations. I put them as references and coach them(:-)). The questions my new employer(may be) asked as part of references are more or less covered at the beginning of my topic plus my absense records. Its currently in progress and I hope it'll be good.

Finally here is a link I found about employee ref check.
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr ... at_id=3073

Ashish, No offence taken buddy.

HSMP_maybe

What was the outcome in the end? Bit curious to know.

netacct wrote:HSMP_maybe

What was the outcome in the end? Bit curious to know.

I should have post it ..sorry ..went out of my mind..

The outcome was positive. I got a good reference and I had no problem with securing my job. Starting from 1st of July. However, in general I'm still uncomfortable about this whole reference thing. Lets say, in six months I decide to take another job, and my manager wouldn't be very happy of me leaving in just 6 months, and I just earn myself a bad ref.

This is not a good system, and I'd like to avoid this in future.

netacct wrote:HSMP_maybe

What was the outcome in the end? Bit curious to know.

how are you doing?

Thanks HSMP_maybe.

As of now, I am out of work.

Received three offer this week. Accepted one.

They said, they will confirm my joining date once the reference check + Disclosure Scotland check (don't know what it means) is done.

Been through few up and downs so bit anxious this time and hopefully things will work out positively.

Unfortunately, I always get no so good opp at the beginning and good at the end.

I had one interview pending with XXX(a very good antivirus company) today but I canceled it as I had already accepted the offer with this yest.
Also, the whole recruitment process really sucks. Its so slow and unpredictable. Getting a good opp is just no dependent only on your skills/confidence etc... Anyway...

However, I am still confused now. Should I still continue exploring good opportunities just in case something unexpected happens?

This is UK and you would never know what will happen.

This time, I really don't want to miss any opportunity and remain unemployed