An overlooked part of the hiring process is the reference checks. In large companies, we sometimes leave this to HR. In smaller companies (and the large ones too) we leave this to the end of the hiring process. You know, when you say, I want to make an offer to this person, “Let’s check references.”
This shortchanges the reference process is several ways. First, we have fallen ‘in love’ with this candidate. That makes us have ‘happy ears’. We don’t hear warning signals. We ask inane questions. “would you hire this person again? What were his/ her challenges in their position? And others like that.
And, we are asking these questions of the people that the candidate gave us. Face it, the candidate can find three people to say nice things about them. Even then, they have been trained by lawyers never to answer real reference questions.
The better way is to ask reference questions from people you know. Use your network. Use Linked In. Find people you know in common. Or people who may know the candidate. Ask for off-the-record references. If you know me personally, I will probably respond differently. Ask these references with behavioral questions. “Can you think of a time that they had to work on a team. How did Candidate X react to that particular situation.” Another is, “can you think of a time you had a coaching moment with this person? What was it about and how did they react?” Find colleagues, not just former managers.
Sometimes, you will not find people you know. But follow through. One of your contacts may be able to introduce you to someone who knew the candidate. Once, we had a candidate whose work history was across the country. We found someone who could introduce us to someone that had worked with him. The questions we subsequently asked at the next interview caused us to avoid a mis-hire. It saved us the $16,000 cost of a mis-hire.
To make reference checking effective, move this process up to immediately after the first interview. Asking specific questions will give you data to clarify during subsequent interviews.
Of, course, the most important thing is to listen to what they say. Follow up, ask questions to get more details. Check out any details that are irksome and you too, can hire better and save money.