Why You Should Collect Professional and Personal References for Jobs

Are you a hiring manager who’s regularly tasked with interviewing candidates?  Finding the best candidate is always a gamble, but you can make it easier for yourself – and less risky by checking professional and personal references.

References are important for a thorough background check because they can help uncover important nuisances that are not always captured in interviews or on resumes. Consistently checking references is a great way to validate and gain comfort on how well a candidate will fit in your organization.

Here are some reasons why it’s important to collect professional and personal references when hiring new employees.

Fact Check Their Resume

It may be easy to lie on a resume, but references are less likely to lie about the candidate. If you have any concerns about a candidate’s work history or something they might have said during an interview, clarify it with one of their references.

If a reference is hesitant to answer a question, try using an either-or method to determine where the candidate may fall on a scale.

Hire Quality Candidates

The best way to separate quality candidates from risky hires is to look into how they performed at previous jobs.

Having access to professional references will allow you to ask previous employers and coworkers about the candidate to see if their resume is accurate. Information from former employers can help determine whether a candidate would be a good fit for your company.

Learn Strengths and Weaknesses

It’s easy to bend the truth when applying for jobs.  So, when a candidate allows you to contact people they’ve worked with before, you have another avenue to confirm things.

Even vouching from friends can be a good sign of whether a person is fit for a position. Their friends will likely list the candidate’s strengths, but friends may also know the candidate better than any former coworker.

Get a Sense of Their Work Ethic and Cultural Fit

Previous employers and college professors can help you get an accurate idea about a candidate’s ability to focus and complete a job on time. Plus, you can capture nuances about the candidate and better determine is the candidate’s style will fit into your Company’s work culture.

Inquire About Character

No matter who the reference is, take the opportunity to ask about the candidate’s disposition.

Talking to a past professor can give you a good idea about the candidate’s willingness to learn and how they act in group settings. Asking a former employer if the candidate left the company on good terms will be an indicator of how they may conduct themselves at your company.

The Importance of Professional and Personal References

Hiring the perfect candidate is easier when you can contact professional and personal references. Even if the candidate includes just three references, their work habits can become much clearer.

Past behavior is a good indication of future behavior!

For help with your background screening program, or to hear about SwiftReference (our automated reference tools), visit us at www.es2.com, or contact an expert at solutions@es2.com.