Bitesize: Taking Up References

I’ve been involved in taking up references a few times in the last few weeks, so I’ve looked been looking for some advice on the subject.  DRG have a great guide entitled “Ten Critical Questions To Ask When Checking References” which has (as the title suggests) a list of ten questions which I will summarise here:

• What were the responsibilities of the position the candidate had while working at your company?
• Do you think the candidate is qualified to assume these responsibilities? Why or why not?
• How would you describe your management style?
• How did the candidate perform with regard to________?
• Is this person a team player or does he or she excel by working alone?
• What was the candidate’s attendance record? Was the candidate on-time and dependable?
• What areas of development were communicated to the candidate and how did he or she respond?
• What are the candidate’s three strongest qualities?
• What was the candidate’s reason for leaving the position?
• Would you rehire this candidate?

I would recommend reading the original article for context if you’re thinking of using this!

The only addition I would recommend (from a JobSearch article on the same subject) is:

• Is there anything I haven’t asked that you would like to share with me?

Real conversations will probably end up covering a good portion of this without too much prompting – but I like to have a check list in front of me to help me make sure I cover everything before the conversation ends, and to give me prompts if all goes quiet!