Following up the Referees

        - A tip for prospective Employers.

After you have finished your Interviews and carefully rated you applicants.

Before you offer the Job to the best applicant you interviewed.

STOP!

Ask yourself ‘are you totally confident this person is the best person for the job'

If you  answer NO to this question then you can either go for a second interview. Or start again and re-advertise the position.

However, If you are confident that you have the best person then you can move on to the next step.

And that is to follow up the references.

Always follow up Referees. It can be surprising what you will learn about a prospective employee.

If it means staying up late and ringing overseas, then do so.

While in government it is usual to request written Referee reports.  Telephone reports are quicker and generally accepted for small business people.

 What questions to ask the referee?

Ask questions such as: -

Candidate XXX has applied for the position of …………………. With our business. The job involves the following responsibilities. Do you think they can do this job well?

‘How long did the person work with you?'

Why did they leave?

How effective were they in the job when they worked for you.

‘Did the person work well in a team?'

‘Was the person reliable?'

 Remember many countries have very strict privacy rules so this may influence how they answer your questions.

Keep asking your questions anyway, as the to your question are very important to you.

The critical question is: 

‘Would you be willing to re-hire the applicant?'

It can be truly amazing how great the applicant can be going with a guarded

Referee until you reach this question.

If you ask no other question!  Ask this one!

This is often the one question that referees can be truly honest with you and it does not infringe on any privacy laws.

It also may be useful at this time to check other details like educational qualifications.