Part 6: Taking Up Genuine References
So this is it. You have shortlisted 3 candidates and you would be comfortable with offering each one of them the job. The last step before making the offer is to take references. Why so?
Because hiring someone is an important move and it takes time to be undone. So we want to make this decision as educated as possible. Of course the ~5 interviews and the business case helped your team have a good view about the candidate but nothing replace having worked with the candidate for several years. That’s why we take reference calls. To buy extra additional data that we couldn’t generate otherwise.
Reference calls are a way to buy extra additional data that interviews and business cases couldn’t generate.
We’ve summed up below a few tips from our experience.
1) How the build the reference list
We like to receive from the candidate from 3 to 5 names of people who directly worked with him/her:
- 3 former managers
- 2 former reports
We also aim to get at least one additional off-list reference from the Kerala network. We usually don’t ask for peers since they are more likely friends with the candidate and so more inclined to give a watered-down version of the candidate track record.
The very information of who the candidate chose to pick is very important. If an obvious former manager wasn’t given as reference, you might want to dive on this and get more info.
2) Don’t let the headhunting firm make the reference calls
When it comes to make the final check on the candidates you have shortlisted, the headhunting firm is usually not fully aligned with you. Their incentive is to fill the position as fast as possible (maximizing their gross margin) so they can move forward to their next mission. Hence they will generally be more inclined to look for hiring confirmations in their reference calls instead of deeply diving candidate references.
Don’t forget that when it comes to check whether or not the candidate is likely to add substantial strategic value to your company over the next few years, only the shareholders speak the same language 😎.
3) Taking references is also part of selling the job
I like this point since it’s a non obvious one. Taking reference calls basically means that the job is important, especially if several people from your side are involved in it. By doing so, you send a strong signal about the role.
Additionally, keep in mind that when reaching out former colleagues or managers, some information will probably be passed to the candidate. Hence we sometimes use reference calls as a back channel to convey messages to the candidate such as how important and strategic the job is, how tough the competition for the role is, what the initial salary range was …
4) The structure of the reference call and the questions we ask
As a starting point we always deeply thank the person we call for taking the time and we ask if we can take 10–15min as we know his/her time is valuable (even if you’ll try to have a 20–25min discussion).
Then, these are examples of questions we like to ask as they are likely to highlight interesting facts and behaviors. Note: we named our candidate Batman.
Checking some facts
- Can you tell me when you started to work with Batman? What was you role at that time? What was Batman’s role and responsibilities at that time?
- What was the business’ size generated by the company?
- What projects have you tightly worked with Batman on?
- Who else could I call to have a better view of what it is like to work with Batman?
Talking about strengths
- What is extraordinary with Batman?
Note: using “extraordinary” rather than “what are his/her strengths?” forces the person we call to think about something that is truly outstanding with the candidate and not just a light characteristic.
Talking about room for improvement
- In a first step, we tend to ask open questions: What skills can we help Batman improve?
Note: this is a way to soften a question about weaknesses.
- Secondly, we can choose to deep dive something we have in mind: “We’ve heard from another reference that Batman had tremendous sales skills but also that he was not comfortable with reporting and analytical thinking. Is that something you also noticed?”
Note: Asking the question this way helps the person we call to answer as the commitment is weaker
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