Reference-Checking Secrets Employers Won't Tell You

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why would an employer call personal references after 2 years of employment?

rafael forestier of FL 10:21AM December 13, 2012

my question is can u get unemployment with a good recommendation?

pamela of MO 1:20AM September 19, 2012

i beharrezkoa , beste handia irakurri bikainak. thx, duzun got my day :)

protruding of AL 3:47PM February 16, 2012

Great article and soooo true!

Dorothy O of OK 4:58PM January 31, 2012

I’ve worked in HR for many years and have checked countless references. It very true that there is no set list of questions that we have to choose from when we talk to a reference. That is why it is important that applicants choose carefully who they list as a reference. I just saw a list of faq, http://www.allisontaylor.com/reference_check_faq.asp, that I thought could be very helpful for anyone trying to put together a list of references.

jenny of TN 10:34AM January 30, 2012

That's all fine unless you worked in HR- who do you go to then?

dd 2:17PM January 26, 2012

#6
I've encountered applications that require 3 references who are not supervisors but have knowledge of my work, skills, etc. I'm uncertain who to offer because my supervisors' bosses wouldn't have much personal experience with me and peers don't have the whole story the way a supervisor does or necessarily pay attention to my work enough to be able to speak intelligently about it. I usually end up listing a peer because I can't think of anyone else who would have knowledge of my work.
On another note, I'm missing something on this site. I can never read more than the three most recent comments. Clicking on the "Comment (#)" link doesn't give me the rest. What am I missing?

Nethwen of NC 6:52PM January 25, 2012

For #2 and #6 - What if your most recent supervisor is totally unhinged? The last person I reported to was a complete mess (drugs, alcoholism, personality disorder, you name it) and I do not want to ever use this person as a reference or have anyone call him about me.
There are other higher-ups who can and will vouch for me, and who I actually worked with since my guy couldn't function most of the time. However, I am worried this will look bad because, regardless of his issues, he was "officially" my supervisor. He is just so awful. I don't want to have anything to do with him, nor do I want my next job to be dependent upon his reference.

Vicks of NJ 6:49PM January 25, 2012

#4 is why I hate references! Giving references can be really hard. Many people, if they agree to be a reference, will enthusiastically say a person is great even if that isn't true. And for everyone of those people, there is another more reserved manager who will say in monotone that a candidate is good even if they were the best in the world. Whether or not a candidate's old manager is enthusiastic or reserved is just pure luck.
I do think hiring managers should check with references; but I honestly think they should be used mostly to make sure the candidate is honest and doesn't have any egregious violations behind them.

KayDay of AK 4:16PM January 25, 2012

I had direct experience with #2 just last week. I was at a job interview and was interviewed by 3 panels of 3 people each. One of the interviewers started quizzing me about a past job I had in graduate school. Turns out that the company I was interviewing with was one of the vendors for the project I worked on in graduate school. The interviewer, who was not even a "top dog" in the company by any means, called up the project lead and asked about my performance. So, YES, people can and WILL call your old employer, especially if they know someone there.

JS of MD 4:16PM January 25, 2012