Should We Check References?
Question: Should we take the time to check references? It just prolongs the process, and we aren’t sure if they make a difference.
Answer: Absolutely, you should check references before making a hiring decision. Consider the current, highly visible example of the congressman who “embellished” his resume. It appears no one checked his educational background or his work experience.
While this is an extreme example of someone lying about their background, the Washington Post says that 37% of job candidates lie on their resumes. That is a lot of people.
Therefore, verifying educational background and confirming what the applicant has told you on their resume or application is recommended. For example, in assessing if they meet the job’s requirements, it’s important to know:
Do they hold the degrees they’ve listed?
Did they work at the organizations they shared?
Did they hold the titles they put on their resume?
Keep in mind that when you ask candidates for references, they are going to give names of people who will only say great things about them. And since most HR departments will only verify dates of employment and titles, here is where you need to use your network and social media to gather more information on the candidate.
LinkedIn is a good place to start. Look for people you are connected with and who have or do work at the places the candidate has worked. They can be valuable sources of information on the applicant.
Having the hiring manager conduct the reference checks is a good option because they know the requirements of the job and can ask good questions. HR can handle the educational background and verifying the dates of employment, but it makes sense to have the manager use their network and/or LinkedIn to confirm the applicant is right for the position.
A best practice is to check references by phone so that the hiring manager can ask good follow-u questions. We have a Reference Checking Template in The Big Book of HR which should help you get started.
There are reference checking services where organizations can outsource reference checking. While we think it makes more sense to do them in house, we do tackle that question in our new book, The Decisive Manager, so be sure to order your copy now.
The decision you are making is important. Tony Hsieh, the late founder and CEO of Zappos, estimated that bad hires cost his company significantly more than 100 million dollars. He believed the cost impact didn’t end when you got rid of the bad hire. It lingers for a long time and can have a huge negative impact on your organizational culture.
Checking references may be time consuming, but it won’t be time wasted.