

Did you know that only 17% of employers screen their employees at least annually? However, with the...
Reference checking is the process of a potential employer contacting the previous employers or schools of an applicant to verify information related to the candidate’s experience, skills, traits, etc. Reference checking was once a standard practice in background screening. However, many employers feel this practice is outdated.
There are a few pros to conducting reference checks on either your short list of candidates, or your candidate of choice:
However, there are also some cons to either spending the time checking references yourself, or hiring a third-party partner to do it for you:
It may not be worth the cost to do so. Reference checks will often be run when a short list has been reached or an offer has been made, pending a background investigation. You are unlikely to learn much, if any at all, new information about your selected candidate that would sway your decision.
In the current hiring crisis, reference checks add more time to the onboarding and hiring process. It may be more beneficial to your organization to conduct a thorough interview and candidate assessments, coupled with your standard background screens, such as employment verifications and criminal checks.
However, if you feel this once-common step in background screening is still important to your organization, here are a few best practices:
If a third party sounds best to process reference checks for your organization, contact Cisive.
Cisive is happy to partner with you to determine where, in your background screening process, reference checks make the most sense for your organization.
Author: Jenni Gray
Bio: Content Marketing Manager at Cisive. 8 years of experience in the background screening industry.
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