In a hiring environment where all resumes look the same, thanks to intense competition and AI, reference checks are more valuable than ever to ensure candidate quality. The questions you ask and how you ask them help verify the claims the candidate makes about themself and fill in the blanks around all the unasked questions regarding their fit for a role.
What Are the Best Reference Check Questions to Ask?
Research consistently shows that open-ended behavioral questions paired with structured rating scales collected from multiple references produce the most predictive hiring data. With the obvious caveat that specific roles will require personalized questions, here are some of the most popular and reliable questions RefAssured customers use to evaluate talent:
- How would you compare this candidate’s performance to others in similar roles?
- What were the most positive things you remember about this candidate?
- What is something this candidate does better than 90 percent of people in similar roles?
- What feedback do you remember sharing with this candidate about areas for improvement?
- If they stayed with you another year, what would you have wanted them to focus on developing?
- What type of environment would this candidate perform best in?
- Would you recommend this candidate for re-hire?
We recommend you combine these open-ended questions with structured ratings on desired soft and hard skills for the most complete outlook on a candidate. And with a solution like RefAssured, you can easily access all these insights in one place within your ATS. That’s because RefAssured integrates with every major ATS.
To see dozens more questions, please contact us to see an example of a full RefAssured questionnaire!
How to Ask Questions for Reference Checks
While the questions you ask are important, the way you frame the question is arguably even more important.
It’s not uncommon for people to assume reference checks are low-value under the assumption that anyone asked for a reference will provide unconditional praise. To combat this challenge, RefAssured teamed up with I/O psychologists to create a questionnaire that yields more honest, but ultimately considerate, feedback.
Our solution? Instead of asking reference givers to rate the qualities of the candidate in a vacuum with no context for what the scores mean, they are asked to rate them in relation to everyone they have ever worked with. This framing allows the reference giver to say, “Hey, Joe is pretty organized, but not compared to some of my other colleagues,” and provides a more honest, reflective score. As a result, the median scores from RefAssured reference checks are considerably more reliable than a simple “check the box” perfect rating.
Why Phone Call Reference Checks Are Outdated
Getting the most reliable, truthful answers isn’t just about what questions you ask and how you frame them. The medium is just as important.
Phone call references are notoriously a hassle for both the recruiter and the reference giver. They’re difficult to schedule and incredibly time-consuming.
Additionally, reference checks conducted over the phone put reference givers on the spot. Their evaluation of a candidate is limited by their recall ability in the moment they’re talking with you. It’s hard for human beings to share their insight in a thoughtful, organized way in a live, spontaneous conversation. As a result, via phone, it’s unlikely a recruiter will be able to tap into all the helpful knowledge the reference-giver can actually provide.
Automated reference checks are sent digitally through text and email for the reference giver to fill out on their own time. This allows the reference giver to answer these questions more thoughtfully. And because they’re not reliant on scheduling, they’re far speedier and more efficient than traditional phone call methods.
Who Should You Ask for References?
Factors like seniority, job experience, and industry can determine the demographics of who you ask, but the most valuable references will come from direct colleagues and supervisors. In some cases, like in healthcare staffing, supervisor evaluations are specifically required for regulatory compliance.
Even if supervisor references aren’t required for compliance, we generally recommend and observe that most staffing firms will require at least one and often two supervisor references.
What Reference Check Questions Do You Need to Ask for Joint Commission Compliance?
With the caveat that this is not legal advice, and that you should consult the Joint Commission to ensure compliance – reference checks and reference check software serve two primary purposes towards helping staffing agencies adhere to Joint Commission mandates.
So the first is to provide supporting evidence of competence, involving feedback relevant to the role of someone qualified to evaluate performance. This must be collected before the provider or candidate placement. Using fraud detection to identify false or invalid references further strengthens compliance.
But the second crucial component of compliance is consistent documentation that includes timestamped completion dates, constituting an audit trail.
In other words, the most crucial role reference checks play in compliance isn’t in the specific questions that are asked. It’s the method, process, and documentation in which the reference checks are delivered and managed. To learn more about how RefAssured helps healthcare staffing firms comply with Joint Commission requirements, read our case study with Medix.
Learn how you can prove talent, prevent fraud, and win more placements with automated reference checking through RefAssured.