Reference should somehow be checked too!

We come across so many, “seemingly” amazing Candidates. They’re talented, bright & skilled. They list an excellent work history, with all contact info for their references. We call the references, have a 10 to 15 minute conversation and come away thinking the Candidate IS as good as they seem. We’ll find a nice job for them, a well paying job that seems to be a nice “fit” for both Employer & Employee.

A week goes by….the jury is still out. The second week..boom, the sh_t hits the fan. The new Employee proves to be not what we thought them to be. Skill level is weak, personality is in-appropriate for a household, reliability is know where to be found. What happened? How could we have been so wrong? The Employer also, who made the decision to bring them on board?
In many cases, the mistake goes back to the reference. Did we (you) really know who you were speaking with on the phone? Who was it, truly, who gave the great reference? I’ve learned, even the reference should somehow be checked too!

It does make our job a bit harder, but we have found effective ways of knowing who, what, where we’re calling when checking a reference. We also found, being thorough and taking the extra time, is well worth it!

by Glenn Greenhouse ©