Employers are starting to take reference checks more seriously, often triggering exhaustive investigations of applicants' backgrounds and character, according to Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC's careers columnist. She likens the process now to guerrilla warfare, where conventional tactics no longer suffice.
"Three years ago, if you had a live body and no one really hated them, then they were hired," Peter Engel, an executive recruiter in New York, told Tahmincioglu. "Now they're really looking much more closely."
Employers now have more tools available to confirm what prospective hires told them on resumes and in interviews, says Tahmincioglu. HR departments and hiring managers are increasingly probing applicants claims about skills, and their conflicts with supervisors or co-workers. One job-hunter told Tahmincioglu that a reference he provided was grilled by a prospective employer for a half-hour, focusing on job performance and particularly his weaknesses.
Another tool for guerrilla reference-checks are social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Hiring managers and HR departments are using the applicants' network contacts or friends to find co-workers NOT on the provided reference lists and bypassing the posted references often found on LinkedIn profiles. An executive currently in the process of filling several jobs told Tahmincioglu that he routinely checks 6 off-list references for each applicant under serious consideration, using LinkedIn profiles and contact lists.
Some employers get nervous about giving negative reports in reference checks, fearing legal action by former employees. But Tahmincioglu says companies are taking steps to prevent that from happening, such as asking new hires to sign waivers stating that they will not sue the company if supervisors or co-workers say something negative about them in future reference checks.
Tahmincioglu lists a few ways for job-hunters to prepare for this closer examination:
- If you're in the job market, review your social network contacts and friends lists for co-workers who might give you less than a stellar reference, and if necessary, enable
the networks' privacy features to keep your contacts private.
- Call your references before the prospective employer can contact them to let them know about the job for your being considered and the kinds of tough questions they may ask.
- But be careful about over-coaching references on how to respond to probing questions about your background and relationships. HR departments are adept at noticing rehearsed answers.
- If a prospective employer asks to talk to former colleagues with whom you may have had problems, let the reference-checkers know in advance about the problems you had at the previous job. You want to limit the surprises the employer encounters during the reference checks.
In 1999, Peter Fiske offered readers of Science's Next Wave (the predecessor to Science Careers) tips on generating favorable reference letters in academic hiring. While the article is 10 years old, the advice is still good today.
"Three years ago, if you had a live body and no one really hated them, then they were hired," Peter Engel, an executive recruiter in New York, told Tahmincioglu. "Now they're really looking much more closely."
Employers now have more tools available to confirm what prospective hires told them on resumes and in interviews, says Tahmincioglu. HR departments and hiring managers are increasingly probing applicants claims about skills, and their conflicts with supervisors or co-workers. One job-hunter told Tahmincioglu that a reference he provided was grilled by a prospective employer for a half-hour, focusing on job performance and particularly his weaknesses.
Another tool for guerrilla reference-checks are social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Hiring managers and HR departments are using the applicants' network contacts or friends to find co-workers NOT on the provided reference lists and bypassing the posted references often found on LinkedIn profiles. An executive currently in the process of filling several jobs told Tahmincioglu that he routinely checks 6 off-list references for each applicant under serious consideration, using LinkedIn profiles and contact lists.
Some employers get nervous about giving negative reports in reference checks, fearing legal action by former employees. But Tahmincioglu says companies are taking steps to prevent that from happening, such as asking new hires to sign waivers stating that they will not sue the company if supervisors or co-workers say something negative about them in future reference checks.
Tahmincioglu lists a few ways for job-hunters to prepare for this closer examination:
- If you're in the job market, review your social network contacts and friends lists for co-workers who might give you less than a stellar reference, and if necessary, enable
the networks' privacy features to keep your contacts private.
- Call your references before the prospective employer can contact them to let them know about the job for your being considered and the kinds of tough questions they may ask.
- But be careful about over-coaching references on how to respond to probing questions about your background and relationships. HR departments are adept at noticing rehearsed answers.
- If a prospective employer asks to talk to former colleagues with whom you may have had problems, let the reference-checkers know in advance about the problems you had at the previous job. You want to limit the surprises the employer encounters during the reference checks.
In 1999, Peter Fiske offered readers of Science's Next Wave (the predecessor to Science Careers) tips on generating favorable reference letters in academic hiring. While the article is 10 years old, the advice is still good today.
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