A Strategic Reference Check Call Script for Getting Meaningful Insights

Making smarter hiring decisions necessitates a critical understanding of a candidate’s past performance. But to get the insights you need to distinguish top talent, your team has to ensure that they’re asking the right questions.

Why Asking the Right Reference Check Questions Matters

Too often, organizations rely on copy-pasted survey texts to design their reference check scripts. The results deliver generic results generated from vague or outdated questions that don’t actually get at the information you need to better understand key aspects of your candidate’s experience and behavior. 

Interviewers may choose to rely on generic scripts to speed the process along. But in doing so, they may fail to ask follow-up questions or collect impactful insights into the candidate. And without the support of a strategic script, the questions they do ask may not have gotten to the information you needed in the first place.

A structured reference check call supports an efficient process without sacrificing the depth of insight you need to make an informed hiring decision. 

Building a script designed to deliver these insights can take time at the beginning. But once implemented, asking the right questions will lead to a clearer view of your candidates, and easier, more accurate hiring.

Key Components of an Effective Reference Check Call Script

Before you start designing your questionnaire, it’s important to keep in mind a few vital aspects that will support your script’s efficacy, accessibility, and compliance.

• Setting the stage. Identifying yourself and explaining the purpose of the call at the outset will help to establish a clarity of purpose with the reference. The caller should also be transparent about the length of the call, and clearly delineate expectations at each stage of questioning (yes or no answers, elaborative responses, etc.)
•  Structuring the conversation. Building a logical progression into the script ensures clarity and accuracy. Jumping between subjects, questions, may confuse the reference and lead to unclear or vague answers. The progression should also be designed to support objectivity: for example, questions asking for positive and negative feedback should be interspersed to avoid eliciting either favoritism or unnecessarily harsh criticism.
• Keeping compliance. Reference check calls are subject to compliance laws that vary by location. Organizations are not permitted to ask questions that relate to the candidate’s personal life, identity, or background in any way. Avoiding these questions will keep your company in ethical good standing, and ensure that your hiring decision is made based on the candidate’s merit. This will ultimately strengthen your workforce.

A Step-by-Step Reference Check Call Script Template

The specific questions you ask should be driven by the needs of the role, the department, and your company at large. Here, we’ve provided a template that can help to get you started on the structure of your strategic reference check script.

• Introduction. Greet the reference, introduce yourself, explain why you’re calling, and confirm confidentiality.
  
  

• Verification questions. These questions work to confirm information which you should have already gleaned from the candidate. These include:
  - The candidate’s former job title.
  - The candidate’s former responsibilities.
  - The candidate’s dates of employment.
  
  

• Performance-based questions. These questions will give you deeper insights into the candidate’s actual performance while in their previous role. These might include:
  - What are the candidate’s strengths?
  - What are the candidate’s weaknesses?
  - How did the candidate operate as a member of a larger team?
  
  

• Behavioral insights. These questions help you to understand the candidate’s soft skills, as well as their potential for growth and cultural fit. These might include:
  - How would you rate/describe the candidate’s problem solving skills?
  - How would you rate/describe the candidate’s leadership abilities?
  - How would you rate/describe the candidate’s ability to adapt to new responsibilities or structures?
  
  

• Closing the call. Make sure to give the reference space to make any additional comments about the candidate which they think will be relevant to your hiring decision. Any comments that indicate bias should be disregarded. Thank the reference for their time before hanging up.

How to Customize the Script for Different Roles

The questions you ask will change depending on the nature of the role itself. It is critical not to rely on the same script for every role: crafting custom questionnaires will take time, but allow you to gain the insights you need to make smarter hiring choices.

Entry Level vs. Leadership

The expectations for both performance and experience will be very different depending on the level of the role in question.

For example, when hiring for a leadership position, questions regarding the candidate’s past professional experience and leadership qualities are critical. In an entry-level position, however, you may choose to ask the reference more about the candidate’s soft skills and work ethic to establish a fit.

Role Specifics

Similar to the above, different questions should be weighted differently whether you’re hiring for a technical role, a sales role, a remote role, etc.

In a technical role, questions about the candidate’s technical experience and learning potential will come to the front. In a sales role, you might be more interested in the candidate’s past performance and soft skills – such as empathy and communication. For a remote role, you may choose to ask the reference more about the candidate’s ability to operate independently, rather than how well they fit in with office culture.

When writing your role-specific reference questions, being as specific as possible will allow you to more quickly gain actionable insights into candidate quality and fit.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Conducting Reference Calls

Here are a few common pitfalls to keep in mind when designing your reference checking script.

• Leading questions. The way a question is phrased may sometimes unintentionally, or intentionally, guide a reference toward a desired answer, whether positive or negative. For example, asking: “Would you agree that the candidate has an impressive performance record in their role?” Instead, you should ask open-ended questions that allow the reference to give an authentic response: “Please rate and describe the candidate’s performance within their previous role.”
• Irrelevant questions. A less structured conversation with a reference can lead to interviewers asking questions which are in no way related to the candidate’s performance or experience. These can confuse the results of the interview by introducing data which otherwise should not be considered. Avoid straying from the script unless asking a specific follow-up question.
• Non-compliant questions. Similar to the above, biased questions or otherwise non-compliant questions not only complicate the results of your reference check, but can lead to unethical and even illegal hiring practices. Beyond its illegality, organizations miss out on top talent when they make biased hiring decisions – diversity on a team leads to better innovation, and better growth outcomes for the company. It is critical for the health of your business to avoid non-compliant questions.
• Overlooking follow-ups. Failing to ask follow-up questions means you miss out on important details that can give a reference’s response greater context, which would otherwise allow you to make a more informed hiring decision. Always ask follow-up questions if you are able, but make sure that they are relevant, compliant, and open-ended.

The Future of Reference Check Calls: Automated and AI-Assisted Options

More organizations are leaning on automation to bring greater efficiency and efficacy to the reference checking process.

Digital reference checks help to speed up the process with automated reference outreach, reminders, and processing. This means interviewers don’t have to play phone tag with their references, and are free to focus on bigger-picture aspects of the reference checking process – such as designing a better strategic survey. The result is a streamlined protocol that supports quicker and better informed hiring.

AI is also making an impact on global reference checking processes. 

In addition to supporting automation, AI tools are now utilized to summarize and analyze reference response data to help design more effective reference check scripts. AI can read past responses and cross-reference those responses with current employee performance to determine which questions lead to the most impactful hires. 

Additionally, AI can now make hiring trend predictions based on reference data, enabling even faster, more accurate hiring choices for your company.

Why a Well-Crafted Script is Essential for Better Hiring Decisions

Generic reference check questionnaires are no longer working. Supporting organizational growth and stability necessitates a strategic approach to every aspect of company operations – including your reference checking script. 

A structured reference call populated with only the most relevant, specific questions will help you gain the insights you need to locate and hire top talent for your team. Supported by modern reference check solutions, every hire you make will be the right hire.

Crosschq can help make this happen. Sign up for a free demo today.