References are Still Important to Employers

Part of my job as a recruiter is to make sure that my candidates have at least 2 professional references that are able to be verified. This is part of a strict credentialing guideline which our clients require. A professional reference is considered to be someone you have worked under, such as a supervisor. In other cases, for a new graduate, a professor or supervisor of someone you volunteered for can be used. A reference from a family member, neighbor or church member is not acceptable!

There are some issues which arise when asking someone for a reference. The first flaw is that it is not legal to give a bad reference! Many people do not know this! This is why many employers will just verify employment dates and not comment on any performance. It is very important to make sure that the candidate has given consent for employment date releases as well. Please remember to use employers you most recently worked for and not those from several years ago! Recently someone handed us a reference letter and when we compared it to her experience it was from 1999.  There was no visible date on the reference. This type of reference is not acceptable.

We find that candidates might be hesitant to give a supervisor’s name as a reference, especially if they are currently employed. They do not want to indicate to the current employer that there is a chance they are looking to leave. In other cases, if a candidate gives a supervisor as reference it is very hard to reach them since there is a chance they are very busy. In this case, lots of candidates use coworkers instead.

A coworker can be considered professional, but who is to know if the coworker is actually a good friend of the candidate as well as a coworker? Who is to even know if the coworker actually works with the candidate? This would require the recruiter to do more investigating on the reference!

To conclude, there are many loopholes and issues with asking for a reference. Since references are still required we ask our candidates when they apply for positions to make sure they have the phone/fax number and the name of someone in HR to verify your employment. If you are going to carry reference letters around, make sure they are written by a supervisor and the person can be reached.

Finally when reference letters are generated and submitted, remind the employee that we will be calling to verify these. These references are vital for the completion of your profile for placement.