{"id":39,"date":"2018-08-08T08:34:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T07:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/?p=39"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T15:16:12","slug":"the-right-way-to-do-a-reference-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/the-right-way-to-do-a-reference-check\/","title":{"rendered":"The right way to do a reference check"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrowth & Customers<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe right way to do a reference check\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Keir\t\t\t\tKeir Thomas-Bryant<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hiring new employees can be an exciting time but also a challenging one. There are so many things to think about when you\u2019re looking for the perfect candidates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Are you advertising in the right places to get the best people applying?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Are you asking the right questions during interviews?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Should you be asking candidates to complete tasks or psychometric tests?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Do they have the right qualifications and can you confirm them?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Will they have the right cultural fit for your company?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Are they allowed to work in Ireland?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • What about criminal records?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • And of course, do you want to work with this person every day?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Checking the facts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Once you have selected the perfect candidate, you need to ask yourself if they are really as good as they appear. One of the best ways of finding out is to check with their previous employer(s), using a reference check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Surprisingly, many businesses feel they don\u2019t have the time or energy to make these checks – but they really are worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you employ someone without the skills or experience that they\u2019ve claimed, it will be a waste of time, money and resource<\/mark>. Plus, you\u2019ll have to get rid of them, re-advertise the position and go through the whole process again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So here\u2019s our no-nonsense guide to getting those checks done, so you can employ the best and get on with growing your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Just the facts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The first thing to remember is that a candidate\u2019s previous employers don\u2019t have to provide a reference if they don\u2019t want to. But if they do, then the reference has to be true, fair, accurate and not give a misleading impression. It doesn\u2019t matter if the reference is verbal or written, long or short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Giving false or misleading information can actually make them liable, if the candidate ends up costing your business money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Some businesses give just the basic facts so they don\u2019t fall foul of this. These can include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • Start date<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • End date<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Days off sick<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Holidays taken<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      While all this can be quite useful, ideally you\u2019ll want to know more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Create a reference check template<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      One idea is to ask the candidate\u2019s previous employers specific questions, rather than hope they send the data you\u2019re after. An efficient way to do this is to create a reference check template and send it to anyone who\u2019s prepared to offer a reference<\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      It\u2019s often easier for them to fill this template out and you\u2019ll get a more detailed reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To confirm their claims and to build an idea of how they were perceived, you could ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      • What the candidate did<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • How long they worked there<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • What their salary was<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • If they had any attendance issues<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • If they had any warnings or discipline\/capability plans in place<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • If you would recommend them as an employee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Review all references<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        It\u2019s important that you wait for all references to come back to you before you offer the job. If you don\u2019t, and you then find out that the employee is untrustworthy, you would find it extremely difficult to legitimately dismiss them at this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        You often find that you know whether a candidate will make a good employee in your business straight away. It\u2019s comforting to have this impression backed up with strong references, allowing you to go ahead and offer the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Editor\u2019s note: This post was originally published in December 2012 and has been updated for accuracy and relevance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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        Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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        Join 1.5 million subscribers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Hiring new employees can be an exciting time but also a challenging one. There are so many things to think about when you\u2019re looking for the perfect candidates: Checking the facts Once you have selected the perfect candidate, you need to ask yourself if they are really as good as they appear. One of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":280,"featured_media":3813,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,164],"tags":[121,131],"business_type":[5,4],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[203,250],"imagine_tag":[212,230],"coauthors":[393],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","category-people-leadership","tag-employing-contractors","tag-recruit","business_type-small-business","business_type-medium-sized-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ie","author_name":"Keir Thomas-Bryant","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/02\/GettyImages-683807936_super.jpg","imagine_tags":{"212":"Mid-sized business","230":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Ireland","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/280"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/3813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ie\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}