I just got a call asking for a reference for someone who worked in my group a few years ago. I was glad to give a reference, and happy that I could give this person a good one.
Surprisingly, this is the first call I’ve received to check a reference in over a year. During that same year, I’ve had half a dozen people ask me if I would be a reference, and in the years before, I’ve agreed to give references to many more. Some of those requests were generic, like: “if I need a reference would you give me one?” But others were clearly specific, with the company identified. Yet, this is the first time in ages that anyone has bothered to call me to check a reference.
In my book, Managing Writers, I stated that I only got called about half of the time. That’s clearly an overestimate at this point.
So why don’t more managers check references? Here’s my shot at enumerating the top reasons:
- The applicant has obviously chosen references who will say good things, so why waste time listening to someone describe how wonderful the applicant is?
- Once you’ve decided to hire someone, you just want to get on with things and not slow down the process.
- You don’t want to take the chance of receiving information that conflicts with a decision you have already made.
- The hiring process always seems to happen when you’re under pressure; you need someone right now, your “real” job is waiting, and you really don’t want to go out and find more people to interview if you unearth a problem with this person.
Regarding the first point, yes, you’re going to get someone that the applicant thinks will say good things about him or her. But, having called a lot of people to check references, I think it is still possible to learn important information, even from a “pre-screened” person. For example, you can check facts; what did the applicant work on? when did he or she work there? and so forth. In addition, you can often learn a lot from the way someone responds to questions. Even those who are restricted by their company to “name, rank, and serial number” answers may reveal their opinion in the way they respond.
The hiring manager I spoke with today didn’t ask anything out of the ordinary, and there was nothing out of the ordinary in my responses, but I think I made it clear that my evaluation of the candidate as an excellent technical writer was sincere and well-founded. I’m pretty sure that if I had thought otherwise, my meaning would have come through, even if I had used similar words.
The other three points, frankly, just add up to laziness. As strong as the urge may be to skip this step, there’s really no good reason for not calling references when you’re hiring. The call today took about five minutes, was cordial, and confirmed the likely perceptions of the caller. But, if it hadn’t, that one call could have saved him the trouble of hiring, and potentially firing, the wrong person. Since I like to call only when I’m ready to hire, it’s no more than a few phone calls about that one candidate. But if you don’t call, you are losing important information about one of the most important things you do as a manager (and one of the hardest things to undo).
I wonder if managers know what they want to learn from checking references and how to elicit that information.
Good point, that may be another reason for their reluctance to call. Might be worth doing a blog entry on what to ask about.
I was told by an HR dept many years ago to never give out any information other than to verify that the person worked there and their dates of employment. Any other information needed to be requested in writing and sent to HR. I’m guessing companies that tell their employees not to give references, likely tell them not to call for references as well; any checking is left to the HR dept.
Mary,
Thanks for the comment. I have worked for companies that told me to never give out more information than verification and dates of employment, though I’ve never had a company tell me not to call references when hiring. BTW, I didn’t exclude calls from HR, which in my memory are even more rare than calls from managers (I can’t remember the last one, though in fairness, sometimes the call is from “Leslie Jones of XYZ Corp.,” so it could be either HR or a manager).
All that said, those kinds of restrictions make it hard to get information from references, and while I understand the legal concern, it’s a real annoyance. I’d like to know whether any company has suffered a significant legal problem from giving an honest reference, or if it’s just lawyers putting on the belts and suspenders.
While I always did my best to follow corporate policy when giving a reference, I have received information “sub rosa” from companies with that policy, especially if the manager thought the candidate was someone who deserved a good reference. And, I have often been able to get a good feeling about someone’s opinion through tone of voice, word choice, etc. But, it can be a real annoyance when you run into a company with that policy.