If you’ve spent any time in the job market, you are familiar with prospective employers asking for your references so they can learn more about your past work behavior and accomplishments. You pass along 2-4 reference letters or contact information; companies call them to ask a series of questions; they either give you a strong enough reference or not. Nothing special, right?
Well, just like everything else in society, reference checking is going “techno.” More and more companies are partnering with software-oriented reference checking companies that allow for much more in-depth analysis of your reference information. Uh oh!
So, how does this work?
- Your recruiter inputs your information and information for the job in which you are applying into the software;
- The software system sends you an email requesting for you to input a minimum of five references into the system;
- The system then sends an email to each of your references asking them a series of questions;
- Once enough of your references have responded (for more statistically accurate results), the recruiter receives a complete write-up which includes verbatim responses and your strengths and areas of development based on the job for which you’re being considered.
Sounds a little scary? Well, let me warn you – do not use phony references because many of these systems have ways of identifying phony email addresses, email addresses of your family members (never use personal references for a job search), etc. As will all things in life, honesty is the best policy.
Until next time….