What is a reference check?
Reference checks are an important step in the hiring process. Your future employer should be able to verify your old job role, responsibilities and any training you may have that could be relevant to your new position. This means that instead of having to hire somebody and hope for the best, both candidate and hirer can be assured by this process.
Why are reference checks so important?
Online working has become more prevalent than ever following the Covid-19 pandemic. Reference checks are more important than they may have been pre-pandemic as working from home means less in-person interaction and a much larger amount of time spent with technology. In this instance, technology can be our friend. Many people lost jobs at the beginning of the pandemic and were bouncing between different roles for a while after. Usually switching between jobs too frequently could be seen as a red flag by a potential new employer but in the case of the past few years, we are all very understanding of one another’s struggles with employment. However, a lot of jobs can mean a lot of reference checks to be completed. Autorefs will help you get through all of these with half the difficulty and will have you working with your new employee as soon as possible.
Some believe that reference checks are simply the final thumbs-up from our old employer to your new one but there is the argument that it is more. Some believe that the most important part of a reference check is actually learning as much as you can about your applicant so that you can best support them once they are hired.
Who can I use as a reference?
There are many different ways to conduct reference checks and it is likely that, given the time, your potential new employer will go through as many of these as they can. This, however, is not always possible and research has suggested that a mere 1 out of 5 reference check requests are successful.
– The most common type of reference check that you will know of is calls to your past or current employers. This is because these are the people who will know most about what
you are like in a professional setting and how you handle it. This does not however mean that this is your only option.
– You may have volunteered somewhere and this too can be a great reference. Even just having it down as a reference looks great to a potential employer as it shows that you have willingly given up your time to help others. Having this confirmed should put you in good standing as a candidate.
– A professor or teacher is also be a good reference. It may be that you haven’t actually worked before. Maybe you are fresh out of college or university and looking for that first job to get you started. If you do not have ex-employers or current ones you may feel you do not have enough references. Teachers, however, can be great judges of character and will be able to tell your future employer all about your work ethic. They can also discuss how fast or enthused of a learner you might be which is very encouraging to hear for an employer.
– You may run your own business or even just babysit on the side but clients can be an important reference. Having many clients as references could be huge. As an employer, you would have many more people to verify with and could find safety in numbers.
What will be asked in your reference check?
These are just a few examples of questions that could be asked during your reference check; – What was the name of the company, and what industry is it in?
– What was the job role of the applicant?
– How long was the applicant at the job?
– When the applicant left and why they left.
– What level of education do they have?
– What professional experience do they have?
– What are the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses?
– Did the applicant get along with peers?
Does a reference check guarantee a job?
If your potential employer has got to the stage in the hiring process where they are going to be checking your references, this is absolutely a good sign. This does not, however, mean that you definitively have the job. It could be that they have only interviewed you and are just double-checking all that you have told them before extending an official job offer. It could also be, however, that they are interviewing multiple people and therefore are using their reference checks to help them narrow down the pool of candidates.
Different employers will do things slightly differently from one another. You may get a reference check done through one interview process which they take very seriously, and it will have more of an impact on whether or not you are offered the job. On the other hand, another employer may simply see reference checks as a formality. Either way, it is still an important process and unfortunately does not guarantee a job offer at the end but it does mean you are one step closer.
How can AutoRefs help?
AutoRefs is simple and easy to use:
– First, create a profile for your candidate.
– Make a custom questionnaire.
– Send the reference request to the candidate.
– The candidate will receive an email to provide their references. – Referees will then receive your custom questionnaire to respond to.
After this, no further contact with the referees should be necessary and you should have all the information you need.
AutoRefs is straightforward for both employer and applicant. No extra time is wasted contacting each reference individually. All of the data on AutoRefs is kept in the cloud making it easily accessible all over the world. AutoRefs can be paid for either by subscription or pay-as-you-go. It is free to get started and effortless to use, get started immediately with a free account, and no credit card is required.
