Reference Checks: Why Bother?
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I was a recruiter for a long time beginning in 1972 and checked many references.
I have never heard a former employer say, “Jeff, you would be doing a disservice to your client if you referred this person.”
or
“Jeff, tell your client to run, not walk, to the next candidate. This one is a human excrement.”
No, everyone says nice polite things about their former colleague or subordinate. Once in a while, an employer will say, “Sorry, our firm has a policy against our giving references for all former employees.”
I’ll test that by trying to reference check someone else and invariably it is a company-wide prohibition.
So why do companies bother checking references?
I know you’re trying to identify the one imbecile who turns over a manager’s name to you who will say critical things about them.
But that seldom happens.
Is it worth everyone’s time to make those phone calls or would your firm be far better off getting written authorization to do a credit check, a background check (for criminal conduct) and a Google search and call it a day?
After all, if statistically the number of failures in the process (failure to obtain adverse information and obtaining mediocre information in its stead) so greatly exceeds results, why waste time that could be put to better use?
© 2012 all rights reserved
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ career easier. Those things
can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
Website: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us (schedule a paid coaching session, a free discovery call or ask questions using my Trusted Adviser Services)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter
Courses: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses
Main YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jobsearchtv
No BS Job Search Advice Radio Podcast: https://anchor.fm/nobsjobsearchadviceradio
Video Podcast of No BS Job Search Advice Radio: Spotify
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffaltmancoach
Medium: jeffaltmancoach.medium.com
Resume & LinkedIn Profile critiques www.TheBigGameHunter.us/critiques
We grant permission for this post and others to be used on your website as long as a backlink is included to www.TheBigGameHunter.us and notice is provided that it is provided by Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter as an author or creator.
