Gathering Additional Information

In addition to conducting an interview, you will need to gather additional information about your potential candidate. It is recommended that you use two or more assessment methods for better selection results.  Reference and background checks on the candidates are a very effective way to gather more information, and it is certainly recommended that you complete these checks before making a job offer.   In some cases, you will want other sources of information, including tests or simulations, to learn more about the potential candidate.

Reference and Background Checks

Reference and background checks are a good source of information that can support or refute the knowledge you gathered during the interview process. These checks can help you:

• verify information provided by the candidate,
• affirm your gut feelings about the candidate,
• obtain more information about incidents or situations discussed during the interview,
• ask about common job-related difficulties,
• excessive absenteeism and poor work standards and
• protect yourself against negligent or wrongful-hiring lawsuits.

Generally, you will conduct a reference check only for the person that you have identified as the most suitable candidate for the position. If the references are acceptable and you plan to make a job offer to the candidate, you do not need to conduct background checks on the other candidates.

For some internal promotions or transfer competitions, however, you may need to conduct reference checks for all shortlisted candidates.

Contacting between two and four references per candidate will allow you to gather sufficient information to support or refute your interview ratings. The more people you contact and the more specific behavioural information you collect about the candidate, the more confident you will feel in your evaluation of the candidate.

The best people to conduct reference checks are the interviewers, as they will have first-hand knowledge of the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.