Fortunately, they don’t do reference checks.

Well, smart hiring managers and companies do reference checks anyways.

I’m surprised by the number of people who not only don’t take the reference check stage of a job search seriously, but who also believe many/most companies don’t actually do reference checks. You do all the work to locate a job you’re interested in, apply for it, go through the interview stage, and then sit back and roll the dice and assume things will work out just fine when it comes to reference checks. I’ve seen many people do this and they don’t seem to realize job offers end up getting lost at or before the reference check stage quite frequently. This is one of the misconceptions regarding reference checks that can cost you.

You can’t use your aunt as a reference either. Seriously. Nor can you use your parents, sibling, spouse or best friend either.

In fact, you can’t use any relative as a reference or close friend either but that won’t stop some people from doing so with a straight face.

There are quite a few misconceptions about references checks and one of them seems to be that companies don’t actually do them. Companies – smart ones anyways – really do conduct references checks before hiring someone, too.

If you expect that companies don’t really do reference checks or don’t take them very seriously, you might be looking for a new job for longer than you imagined. Reference checks tend to be taken very seriously by hiring companies anyways. Many job searchers, not so much it seems.

I’ve done reference checks with people who didn’t know they were being called for a reference, couldn’t remember the person I was calling about and who disputed many of the things that the job searcher had told me they had accomplished while working for the company.

Some reference checks turn out kind of funny to be honest. I once did a reference check with a job searcher’s current boss as instructed by the job searcher. The job searcher told me his boss knew he was searching for a new job and that his boss was ok with it. He wasn’t. That was an awkward call.

There is such a thing as a bad reference, too. I once did a reference check for a person whose former manager told me that they definitely wouldn’t recommend this person because they’d quit without giving the required 2 weeks notice and had left the company in a lurch.

I recommend that you contact your references before they are about to be called to act as for a reference for you. At a minimum, you want to:

• ensure they are still happy to actually do the reference check for you.
• make sure they know what type of job you’re applying for, the company who will be calling them, who from the company will be calling them (ie. HR person, technical manager, etc) and what skills the job requires so that they can highlight your skills in these areas.
• ensure they are actually going to be around to do the reference check and aren’t on holiday or otherwise unavailable which could cause a delay and possibly cost you the job if it’s time sensitive.
• confirm the best time and method (ie. get the correct phone number) for them to be contacted to do the reference.

I always recommend keeping in touch with your references to ensure you know where to find them and ensure that you keep them up to date as to your whereabouts.

If you aren’t getting past the reference check stage, you might want to reconsider who you are using as references and how you’re utilizing them.

Tags: Reference Checks and Referrals, references