If hired on our Human Resources team, what weight do you put on a candidate's professional references when considering them for a hire?
"I believe that reference checks are one important piece of the interview process when considering candidates for hire, but I always warn hiring managers that a solid reference should not be the sole reason for hiring a candidate. I feel it is best to obtain professional references before the final interviews, perhaps when the decision is down to the top two or three candidates. In addition to reference checks, I also think it's important to look at a candidates' online presence on Google, social media, and LinkedIn."
At some point during your interview, your interviewer will be interested to hear about your diligence surrounding all aspects of the hiring process, including reference checking. Proper reference checking shows your ability to be thorough in the hiring process. An adequate reference will stand as a solid recommendation from those who have professional experience with the candidate in question. Be prepared to talk to the interviewer about how you handle reference checking, including how diligent you are with this task. As you answer, be sure to reiterate that reference checks are just one small important piece in making a hiring decision.
"When hiring, I believe a critical component of the hiring process is seeking out and checking references. This step gives the interview team an alternative perspective of the candidate being considered from a source that has had professional or personal experience with them. Contacting references provides additional insight if the interview team has uncertainty about any aspect of the candidate's qualification. This information might be useful in coming to a hiring decision. For these reasons, I am sure to check the reference for every candidate after our second interview. This action ensures that I have a well-rounded view of their strengths before moving into final interviews."
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Anonymous Answer
Yes, absolutely. An interview would give you half an hour or 1 hour with the candidate. Whereas references tell you about the candidate's character, They've spent so many hours with them that it gives an insight into what kind of person our candidate is. The question I like to ask most is, "what is it like to work with this candidate?" It sometimes tells you the values candidate has, and also, it's just a way of cross-checking the experience and knowledge the candidate possesses.
Chad's Feedback
It is clear you recognize the importance of checking a candidate's professional references and are diligent in the hiring process. Good job! To make your answer even more memorable to the interviewer, include some additional information about your process related to reference checking. Is there a specific stage of the hiring process when you prefer to perform these checks? Do you conduct reference checks for every position? Do you have one question you ask of every reference that you find particularly useful?
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