Does this scenario sound familiar? You interview for a position that fits you perfectly. During the third meeting, you are asked for a list of your job references and told the company will be back in touch very soon. Not only does nobody call you again, but they no longer take your calls. There is a good chance a job reference scared them off during a reference check and, at that point, it is too late to try and resolve the situation. Do not wait until this happens to you. Performing Reference Checks in advance assures your job references are saying complimentary things about you or, at the very least, verifying your existence. If they are not, then your job search may go on for a very long time. Following are sample responses from real reference checks. Our reference checks can help you select the right job references and then make sure responses like these never come up in the conversation.

Samples of conversations we have encountered during reference checks:
We would like to verify that -------held the position of Manager of accounting from May 1, 1998 to May 1, 2005, is this correct?

“We do not have this person anywhere in our records.”

“I am not allowed to say anything about this person as they were fired”

Reference check question regarding performance evaluations:
Please answer how you would rate this employee in the following areas:

Performance Evaluation Questionnaire
Oral Communications: “Can I give a negative number … -1”

Financial Skills: “Well, that’s why our company had a major layoff – left her in charge of finances!”

Written Communications: “You mean when she finally turned in the reports due a week earlier??

Technical Skills: “Is zero in your rating scale?”

Interpersonal Relations: “He’s not the type to go knock on doors and talk with people.”

Productivity: “Is there a rating less than inadequate?

Employee Relations: “She purposely caused havoc in the office with her gossip.”

Decision Making: “He couldn’t make a decision if his life depended on it!”

Leadership: “He had no leadership skills.”

Crisis Management: “He [fireman] totally ignored the emergency call when it came in. He said she didn’t hear it!”

Short Term Planning: “Lousy, can’t remember something that was completed on time!”

Personal Integrity: “I don’t think she had any integrity.”

Long Term Planning: “He wasn’t here long enough to rate him.”

Overall Performance: “Inadequate would be a positive word for him!”

Managerial Skills: “He couldn’t manage a group of children!”

Key:
1=Inadequate
2=Poor
3=Satisfactory
4=Good
5=Outstanding
NC=No Comment
SB=See Below
NP=Not Applicable

“No comment, they could not do anything correctly in the position they held with us”
“Basically you could rank them inadequate in all areas”

Reference Check Questions Regarding strengths and weaknesses:
“I cannot think of any strengths, only weaknesses”
“I’m sure there must be some strengths but nothing jumps out at me.”
“Weaknesses seem to stick in my mind … I’d have to really think about any strengths”
“I’d rather not comment – you can take that however you want”

Reference Check Questions Regarding Eligibility for re-hire:
Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“Yes, she would be.”

And would you personally re-hire her based on performance?
“No, I wouldn’t re-hire her.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“He is not. I’m really not supposed to say much but he was unreliable
and sick at lot.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“Probably not – she had a hard time working in a team environment.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“No, but I can’t say why.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“Probably not but it’s just a suspicion of mine.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“No, because he didn’t want to work here and made it clear he didn’t want to work here.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“Yes, she’s eligible but we wouldn’t re-hire her.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“I wouldn’t re-hire him. He was disorganized and dishonest.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“No, it was the departure – kind of burned his bridges when he left.”

Is this person eligible for re-hire?
“No, she stole from the company. We have an investigation pending.”

Reference Check Questions Regarding Reason for Separation:
Could you fully describe the circumstances and reason for the separation?
“She was fired.”

Could you fully describe the circumstances and reason for the separation?
“She was let go – she didn’t do her part as expected.”

Could you fully describe the circumstances and reason for the separation?
“He was let go … there was a conflict with the children – he didn’t follow safety standards and guidelines.”

Could you fully describe the circumstances and reason for the separation?
“I fired him! He and his buddy had some illegal things going.”

Regarding Tone of Voice:
Many times we have experienced tones of the following:
Anger and shock they have been called to the point of being hung up on
Disbelief that they were called
“I haven’t heard from her in 8 years!”
Extreme unhappiness they have been called regarding this employee

Miscellaneous Reference Check Questions:
We are calling as I have you down as a job reference regarding ------ ------.
“I do not care to comment at all. I let him go and that’s all I care to say!”

We are calling as I have you down as a job reference regarding ------ ------.
“Are you certain he gave you my name?”

We are calling as I have you down as a job reference regarding ------ ------.
“I cannot believe you were given my name as a reference”

We are calling as I have you down as a job reference regarding ------ ------.
“Hold on, let me get the legal file to see what I am allowed to say”

We are calling as I have you down as a job reference regarding ------ ------.
“Never heard of him”

Is there anyone else we should speak to regarding this former employee?
“They’re going to say the same thing I did.”

Is there anyone else we should speak to regarding this former employee?
“Yes, you can speak with my boss … he’s sure to tell you more than I did.”

Is there anyone else we should speak to regarding this former employee?
“You can speak with our company attorney.”