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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on October 20, 2010 at 2:00pm

Matt-
You need to listen to the Recruiting Animal show that just aired today..., http://www.blogtalkradio.com/animal
With Steven G. Daviss as the guest/ There was a lengthy and juicy discussion regarding reference checks...

Thanks for the link!

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Permalink Reply by Thabo on October 20, 2010 at 2:36pm

Matt, I totally agree that references are important. I find the most reliable references to be the ones that are not on the the candidates resume. I cannot see someone put a reference whom they know will bad mouth them, so one also has to take the integrity of the process into consideration. The other concern I have is people tend to always want to give someone a good reference as "we are all nice people" and others worry about karma when giving someone a bad reference, albeit true. People have a hard time dealing with the brutal truth hence when they know someone's prospects of employment are on the line, they would rather help than risk the person not getting hired.
Given the world is small, I often ask people that have worked with the candidate if they know the candidate and what their thoughts are of the person. Then at least I have different points of view which gives you insight as what you could possibly be managing. It is useful information, but only as effective as the maturity that comes with using it.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Whitman on October 20, 2010 at 3:02pm

Link broken?

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Permalink Reply by EG Olimpio on October 21, 2010 at 9:12am

Matt, really enjoyed your blog today. I don't think younger job candidates spend enough time on this important feature of their profile.

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Permalink Reply by C. B. Stalling!! on October 21, 2010 at 9:21am

I also agree that the ref are niot the ones on the resume. If you know people at the company where they work you should call. Most people only put good people down.....

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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on October 21, 2010 at 10:04am

Wow, Back door reference checking? A recruiter's form of espionage... nice.

Nothing unethical? Some might question that. You could talk to my ex-husband and I can guarantee he will not give me a positive and glowing reference. You could also talk to my first boss in recruiting, he is probably still unhappy that I left his firm. You cannot trust what a back door reference says either. The ax can grind either way.

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Permalink Reply by Thabo on October 21, 2010 at 10:16am

Rayanne, everything has to be taken with context. To be honest, if it happened to be your ex Husband I would have to take everything he says with a BAG of salt. I don't force the issue, it is about asking someone's point of view whom you actually rate. So I would not cold call a stranger. The world is small and what is best is people tend to tell me stuff before I even ask for it. Some news good, some news concerning. There are three sides to every story I believe and I trust my gut before I trust another person's experience of an individual.

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Permalink Reply by EG Olimpio on October 21, 2010 at 10:37am

I agree with Rayanne about the credibility of past references. I think job seekers should be advised to obtain as many positive references in advance of a job search as possible. Don't wait until a request is made for references. Provide them in advance as part of your profile. This might insure the most accurate references are checked. It is probably a good idea to encourage job seekers (especially young) to build a reference collection over the course of their career.

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Permalink Reply by C. B. Stalling!! on October 21, 2010 at 11:23am

I like the back door no problem.....

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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on October 21, 2010 at 11:24am

@Thabo -I absolutely agree with you regarding the "trusting your gut" = I have always used that as my first point of reference in any search and it typically has been right on.

Additionally, how can you not take ANY reference, good or bad, with a bag of salt? People stay for a reason, people leave for a reason. Nine times out of ten, the reason they leave is BECAUSE of other people. You have a pretty good chance of talking to someone that was a reason they left. So..., is it really fair to exclude people that might have been a reason they stayed as long as they did?

It is a very compelling thought and something I have long-struggled with... particularly after one of my candidates was booted because of an invalid back door reference that had a machete to grind...

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