written on July 22, 2009 by Laurie Mitchell
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A diligent recruiter should check a candidate's references twice: Once informally -- prior to submitting the candidate to a client company -- with a couple utterly confidential and trustworthy off-the-record sources who confirm the recruiter's assessment and instincts that her candidate has excellent qualifications and interpersonal skills for a specific search requirement; and again - prior to the candidate's second interview round - when the recruiter formally contacts all the professional references provided by the candidate and a few additional people who may or may not be the informal ones contacted earlier and who were not provided by the candidate.
Because written recommendations can be easily manufactured they are disregarded or verified with a live phone call. A seasoned recruiter pays attention to how quickly a reference returns her call and on the call, itself, she "hears between the lines": what isn't being said or how a positive comment is phrased or positioned; how a weakness is parsed; and whether specific questions are answered or avoided. Always attuned to canned or "pre-arranged answers", she asks the unexpected or requests extra detail or color commentary.
The neutral response -- "I really don't have an opinion as I wasn't much exposed to his work" -- is the new negative in our litigious world. The truly negative reference "I'd rather not (or can't) discuss" sets off alarm bells unless the HR police will flog the squealer for disobeying corporate policy by giving a reference in the first place. But, the veteran recruiter knows how to overcome this objection in a nanosecond!
Often a candidate will receive a lousy reference. Surprises occur fairly frequently, hidden resentments or agendas surface, candidates misjudge what others think of them. Recently, a reference provided by the candidate, himself, said "Joe always made mistakes, never got it right, but is a really nice guy whom we all liked a great deal".
As an employer, ask your recruiter what her trademark reference questions are. You may be surprised at all the legal and ethical ways both piercing and thoughtful questions can be posed to elicit important information about a candidate. A reputable recruiter should not mind giving her client a couple of the special questions she relies upon to obtain the usually "unobtainable".
Five excellent references and one lousy one are usually more about the lousy one. Three and three cause me to call another three. The same weakness noted by five references is an important clue for how you should manage your new hire. Carefully consider what you learn from references. If done right, they provide a plethora of critical information.
By Laurie Mitchell, Certified Personnel Consultant
Laurie Mitchell Marketing Executive Search