Dear All,

I would like to know about the Reference Checking process of candidates to whom we are goining to hire.

Apart fm reference given by candidate, how to do cross reference checking fm his/her current employer or collegues specially in the case of Senior People. Whom to talk like HR people or directly his/her collegues/peers, supervisor or head of dept.

Looking for ur input.

Vishal Bachani

Dear Vishal,

There are numerous agencies doing anticedent verification for very nominal amount.  They assures confidentiality while doing verifications & on request do it for education/ professional qualifications too.

If you would like to do it on your own then consentrate on issues like Integrity, Designation, Tennure, & behavioral attributes instead of salary. As being a senior employee his/her collegues, juniors, or peers wont be aware of salary.

Ref Chech coulld be done pre/post joining and you need to decide when you want to do it as both methods have their own implications which could affect the candidate negatively too.

Hope heve answered your query

Savii

Hi, Ideally reference check should be done with the person whom he has reported in previous job. In case of technical persons it should be immediate boss. Peers and colleagues are generally not very helpful. It depends under what capacity reference knows the candidate.

Archana

Hi Vishal,

Yes, it does make immense sense for a recruiter to not restrict him/herself to the referees mentioned by the recruit. To view the recruit from a boss' view point, it is a better idea to speak with his ex ex boss, rather than his ex boss, to avoid awkwardness and even resentment to an extent. A more rounded picture however emerges while interacting with the peers the recruit has worked with. The cultural fitment, the team orientation and interpersonal skills get reflected by his/her peers, more than his/her boss. Speaking with the recruit's PG or Bschool professor may also be a good idea, esp. for a job where sound subject knowledge, quest for learning, and diligence is a must.

During the process of a reference check, it helps for the recruiter to be prepared with a sharp battery of questions rather than go in for a free wheeling session. Insights into the recruit's performance appraisals, his interpersonal behavior, his attitude under pressure, etc can be obtained upfront. "if given an opportunity, would u hire the the person back in your organisation" may be a quintessential final question !!

Regards

Harish M

Dear harish,

Thanx for professional guidence. I agree with all ur points. I have still few doubts:-

1. How to do cross checking fm his present companies before making an offer?

2. In case we do it & get negative feedback, does it make any sense to tell the candidate as rejection reason?

3. If candidate through Consultancy, what is role of Consultancy apeart fm checking the referecnes given by candidate. Can they also do also checking?

4. Does HR dept. of his/her (not present but previous) organisations should be aware of his/her reference checking process?

5. How does it work if we directly talk to CEO (all previous compaines) for sr. positions.

Looking for input.

Vishal Bachani