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Maybe it depends on the industry. But I worked in a field where everyone knew everybody if you'd been around for a few years. So it was an absolute no-brainer t

Maybe it depends on the industry. But I worked in a field where everyone knew everybody if you'd been around for a few years. So it was an absolute no-brainer to look up who you knew at the companies the candidate worked, pick up the phone and ask what's the word on the street about this guy. And the guy I was calling would typically consider it a favor to me, not to the hire. In fact, failing to call, or to have a network of people who could help on hiring references, purchase references, occasional technical and best-practice questions, would be failing networking 101 and the real no-no at that level. Of course, this would be when an offer was about to be made, and not to anyone who wasn't supposed to know about the hire, or whose discretion couldn't be relied on, and just 1-2 people. Of course, randomly contacting a bunch of people via LinkedIn would have been bad judgment and a reason for the candidate to question working for someone who would risk putting them in an embarrassing spot. Also, I don't really agree with the most direct in-your-face questions in the post unless you know the reference really well. If I was the reference those questions would make me uncomfortable and I would shut down the call pretty quick. Would almost make me think the candidate had a buddy testing me for what type of reference I was giving, which is not totally unheard of. Also, my experience is the check is mostly to check for the red flag, make sure their description of role was accurate, maybe confirm/fill in a gap about something you might not get the full story about from the applicant, how much were they really involved in X, circumstances of departure, basic strengths, weaknesses, would you hire again. If you can't do the technical / cultural fit yourself you're gonna have a bad time. Other than that, I'm surprised at the pushback... for the most part this is the way it's done.

rhizome 14y ago
References are not an opportunity to engage in "networking 101." The advice recommended in the post belies a poor screening and interviewing technique.
- RockyMcNuts 14y ago
  Sorry if I was unclear. I did not mean it was an opportunity to build a network. I meant, at least where I was, if you were a hiring manager and didn't have the ability to tap your network and check through a back channel if someone in the industry was legit, and take advantage of it, you weren't really doing your job.
  - rhizome 14y ago
    Legit-ness should be sorted out WAY before references are checked.

rhizome 14y ago

References are not an opportunity to engage in "networking 101." The advice recommended in the post belies a poor screening and interviewing technique.

RockyMcNuts 14y ago
Sorry if I was unclear. I did not mean it was an opportunity to build a network. I meant, at least where I was, if you were a hiring manager and didn't have the ability to tap your network and check through a back channel if someone in the industry was legit, and take advantage of it, you weren't really doing your job.
- rhizome 14y ago
  Legit-ness should be sorted out WAY before references are checked.