Posted by In the previous blog post, we discussed the general feature of references in the labor market. Now 2 three points we will present how to use them in practice.
First, it is important to realize what purpose references have. Usually, their purpose is to provide information about the employee’s skills, knowledge and personal qualities to the next employer. A reference from an HR department or supervisor may also give an indication of what positions a person is suitable for and what work experience he or she has. In addition, references should include general information, such as length of employment, job title or position previously held, scope of duties performed and reason for leaving the company.
HR consultants estimate that in the United States, one in eight people significantly overstate their qualifications in their resume and cover letter. He or she provides false data on schooling completed, occupations held or language skills. Therefore, references are intended to provide more objective information to a potential employer.
Second, it is worth planning in what situations references will be required of candidates during selection. This problem is not easy to solve. Some HR consultants are of the opinion that references should be a source of knowledge about a candidate only in special cases: when there is a recruitment for a key position in the company, when the job will require special qualifications, or when there is great doubt about the veracity of the data in a candidate’s resume. The second group of HR management specialists says that references should be a permanent feature during recruitment.
Third, whether you want a reference or a former employee comes forward to provide a document, you need to determine what form this document should take. There is not much choice: references can be either written or oral. However, in both cases you need to follow different rules.
Written references have an open or closed form. The first consists of loose opinions, containing facts from the candidate’s professional life and a subjective assessment of his skills and personal qualities. The second is a standard form, in which information about the employee will be highlighted in an orderly manner.
Telephone references can be obtained and given much more quickly than written ones. The conversation often conveys a lot of facts that, for legal reasons, are better not put on paper. When giving or obtaining references by phone, however, you need to follow a few rules:
- make sure you are talking to the right person,
- if you are a future employer – ask only for facts, and if a former employer – try to refrain from far-fetched subjective opinions,
- be sensitive to the context and tone of statements,
elaborate on the issues raised if they relate to the candidate’s future job.
In order for the references provided to be credible and up-to-date, they should include:
- a precise list of the last duties of the person for whom they are issued,
- a summary of the employee’s performance with the previous employer,
- numbers, dates, places and other easily verifiable data,
- personal characteristics of the employee, preferably based on known ways of describing a person’s personality,
- reasons for termination of the employee’s cooperation with the company.