Home topics workplace hr-and-staff Managing Staff Managing Don’t forget to reference check Lorna Brett August 17, 2011 Employers are being warned not to underestimate the importance of checking a potential employee’s references during the recruitment process, with many failing to find out when candidates misrepresent themselves. According to Kelly Services General Manager Penny O’Reilly, reference checking is a vital step in the recruitment process, but employers often don’t consider it as important as other stages. “It is crucial that employers verify the information presented on a candidates resume is factual and reference checking is a great way to assess a person’s work ethic, reliability and personality traits.” “Effective reference checking is an art. Unfortunately it’s an art that many hiring managers cannot master, so it is regularly overlooked. The challenge is to get the information you need without overstepping the legal boundaries.” Thanks to the rise of social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, hiring managers have become increasingly reluctant to pick up the phone and make personalized reference check calls. According to O’Reilly, “social media should not be used as a substitute to personal conversations with a candidate’s previous manager.” Here’s four tips for conducting a reference check: 1. Only deal with direct managers. When conducting a reference check you have to clearly establish the working relationship between the candidate and the referee. Previous managers and superiors are more likely to answer questions about working habits and capabilities rather than peers who may be friends with that employee.