{"id":769,"date":"2007-03-21T15:05:15","date_gmt":"2007-03-21T20:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/reference-checks\/"},"modified":"2007-03-21T15:05:30","modified_gmt":"2007-03-21T20:05:30","slug":"reference-checks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/reference-checks\/","title":{"rendered":"Reference Checks"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came across an article on Monster this morning that identifies fives mistakes you want to avoid for reference checks<\/a>. The article is a quick read, but here are the five mistakes to avoid:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Not Checking at All<\/li>\n
  2. Lack of Consistency<\/li>\n
  3. Making the Job Offer Contingent on a Reference Check<\/li>\n
  4. Not Requiring References Who Have Worked Directly with the Candidate<\/li>\n
  5. Asking Leading questions and Failing to Ask Follow-Up Questions<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In point 3 the author has this to say:<\/p>\n

    References should be checked much earlier in the process than many employers actually perform them. Once the top two or three candidates have been identified through resume screenings and initial interviews, references should be checked before any consideration is given to making a job offer<\/strong>. If the references confirm a candidate’s skills, experience and ability, then conduct a follow-up interview armed with that knowledge. More importantly, making an offer contingent on a positive reference check creates a legal relationship between the employer and candidate<\/strong>. Why would you want to do that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    I would like to add – use the follow-up interview to drill down into those skills, experiences and abilities to help you determine if they can apply them into this position and strengthen your company. Give them sample scenarios to react to, handle and resolve so you can see how they think in the heat of the battle.<\/p>\n

    Finally, I would like to add that the last step in your hiring process should be to run your top candidate through a background verification process. I hate to keep speaking to this, but you would be surprised how many companies still fail to use this step in their process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I came across an article on Monster this morning that identifies fives mistakes you want to avoid for reference checks. The article is a quick read, but here are the five mistakes to avoid: Not Checking at All Lack of Consistency Making the Job Offer Contingent on a Reference Check Not Requiring References Who Have Worked Directly with the Candidate Asking Leading questions and Failing to Ask Follow-Up Questions In point 3 the author has this to say: References should be checked much earlier in the process than many employers actually perform them. Once the top two or three candidates have been identified through resume screenings and initial interviews, references… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hiring","category-hiring-salespeople"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-cp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1468,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/03\/prime-your-customer-references\/","url_meta":{"origin":769,"position":0},"title":"Prime Your Customer References","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Lee Salz offers an article on ManageSmarter.com about reference checks performed by prospects at the final stage of a sale.\u00a0 We go back and forth on this topic often at Select Metrix.\u00a0 Many times prospects want references, but often they do not follow up on them. However, when they do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sales Techniques"","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":683,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/02\/6-sales-hiring-mistakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":769,"position":1},"title":"6 Sales Hiring Mistakes","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Salesopedia has this article on their home page this week - Six Common Mistakes in the Sales Hiring Process. Obviously we are going to read that one. First off, great quote from Zig Ziglar in the article: \"Sales people are really the only people in business who pay the bills!\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Assessing"","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1045,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/07\/too-early-for-references\/","url_meta":{"origin":769,"position":2},"title":"Too Early For References","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"From\u00a0a sales ad I read this morning: For more information on this position or to apply please forward your resume and a list of references to... The ad is far too early for references and, quite frankly, I would be a bit surprised if any candidate provided references when simply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Employment Ads"","block_context":{"text":"Employment Ads","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/employment-ads\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1720,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/08\/liability-waivers-and-references\/","url_meta":{"origin":769,"position":3},"title":"Liability Waivers And References","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been used as a reference and I have called to talk to references - at times it can be awkward.\u00a0 I am extremely careful with what I say when I am the reference as I sense legal danger everywhere.\u00a0 When I am calling a reference, I truly enjoy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2269,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/02\/the-illegality-of-facebook-due-diligence\/","url_meta":{"origin":769,"position":4},"title":"The Illegality Of Facebook Due Diligence","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, there isn\u2019t any precedence yet, according to this StarTribune article.\u00a0 Clearly the proper use of social networking sites during background checks for candidates is going to be a tremendously important legal topic soon.\u00a0 This topic has been percolating for some time.\u00a0 The article references an obvious starting point: \"We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":235,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/08\/just-like-milking-a-cow\/","url_meta":{"origin":769,"position":5},"title":"Just Like Milking A Cow","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Marketingprofs.com posts this fine article - Telling Ain't Selling. The article is well-written and quotes some fine points from Spin Selling that we are familiar with at Select Metrix. The author provides some wide-ranging references. Check out these excerpts: Like milking a cow, selling can be a delicate operation. While\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sales Techniques"","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}