Template

Reference call template

A call with someone who worked with your final candidate, to check what you heard in interviews and learn how best to support them if you hire them.

20 minutesFor The hiring manager and a former manager or colleague of the candidateAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. How you worked together3 min
    • How did you work with them, and for how long?
  2. What they did well5 min
    • What were they best at?
  3. Where they grew5 min
    • What did they find hard, and how did they handle it?
  4. How to support them4 min
    • What would help them do their best work?
  5. Would you work with them again3 min
    • Would you hire them again? Why?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Worked together. Their manager for two years.

Best at. Calm with angry customers; rewrote the team's saved replies.

Grew. Saying no to extra work — got better after a rough first year.

Again. Yes, without hesitation.

Running it well

Ways to change it

Senior roleAdd a peer and someone who reported to them.
In writingIf the referee prefers, send the same five questions by email.

When to skip it. If the referee can only confirm dates; many employers allow no more, so ask the candidate for other people who worked with them.

Questions

What questions should you ask a reference?

How they worked with the candidate, what the candidate did best, where they found things hard, how to support them, and whether the referee would work with them again.

When should you check references?

Near the end of the process, with the candidate's permission, before or alongside a conditional offer.

What if a former employer will only confirm dates?

That is common policy at many companies; ask the candidate for other referees who worked closely with them.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

More templates

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