A recruiter receives a referee's name and immediately asks, “Was this person good at their job?” The conversation is friendly, but it produces little that can be compared with the role. Dates are not confirmed, the referee's working relationship is unclear and the final note says only “positive reference”.
A useful reference check is not a search for general approval. It is a structured attempt to confirm relevant facts, understand working context and test specific evidence from the recruitment process. Preparation makes the call fairer for the candidate, more useful for the client and easier to review later.
Confirm the candidate's permission and expectations
Before contacting anyone, confirm that the candidate has supplied or approved the referee and understands the stage at which references will be taken. Record the referee's name, organisation, role, contact details and relationship to the candidate.
Follow your organisation's policy and the privacy and employment requirements that apply to the recruitment. Do not contact an unapproved current employer simply because their details are easy to find online.
Define what the reference needs to establish
Start with the vacancy, not a generic questionnaire. Identify the few facts and behaviours that genuinely matter: employment dates, responsibilities, reporting relationship, reliability, quality of work, communication, leadership, attendance or another role-specific requirement.
Separate essential verification from useful context. If the client needs a factual employment reference only, do not turn the call into an informal character investigation. If a fuller professional reference is appropriate, keep every question relevant to the role.
Verify who is giving the reference
Confirm the referee's current position, how they know the candidate, whether they directly supervised the work and the period during which they worked together. A colleague, line manager, customer and HR administrator may each hold different information.
Where practical, use independently verified organisational contact details rather than relying only on a personal number or email supplied in a document. If the referee cannot verify their connection, record the limitation instead of presenting the response as fully confirmed.
Prepare consistent, evidence-based questions
Use a standard core question set for candidates being considered for the same type of role. This creates consistency, while targeted follow-up questions can explore the candidate's actual responsibilities and examples.
Ask open questions that invite evidence: What work did the candidate own? How did they respond when priorities changed? What support helped them perform well? What was the result of a particular project? Avoid leading questions that merely ask the referee to agree with the recruiter's preferred answer.
Confirm facts before asking for opinions
Begin with the candidate's job title, dates, reason for leaving where the referee is able to comment, and the main duties. Then compare these facts with the CV, application and interview record.
When discussing performance, distinguish direct observation from assumption. A statement such as “I managed her for two years and reviewed this work monthly” carries different context from “the team seemed to like her”. Record the referee's words accurately without turning a cautious response into a negative conclusion.
A practical example
A candidate for an operations coordinator role says they managed supplier schedules, resolved delivery problems and produced a weekly performance report. The recruiter's generic reference form asks only whether the candidate was trustworthy, punctual and eligible for re-employment.
The referee answers yes to each question, but the client still has no evidence about the work that matters. During final review, another person notices that the referee was a peer rather than the candidate's manager.
With a prepared checklist, the recruiter first confirms the referee's role and working period. The referee explains that they worked alongside the candidate and can comment on daily coordination but not formal performance ratings. The recruiter asks for a specific delivery issue the candidate handled, the actions taken and the outcome.
The call confirms practical coordination experience while clearly recording the limits of the referee's knowledge. The recruiter can then request an additional managerial reference if it is genuinely needed, rather than treating one broad endorsement as complete evidence.
Handle discrepancies carefully
A difference does not automatically mean dishonesty. Dates may vary because payroll, contract and working dates differ. Job titles can change internally, and one referee may only know part of the candidate's responsibilities.
Record the exact discrepancy, check whether it affects the role and give the candidate an appropriate opportunity to clarify it. Escalate material concerns through the agreed recruitment process rather than resolving them through informal assumptions.
Record the outcome and next action
Capture when and how the reference was completed, the questions asked, factual confirmations, relevant examples, limitations, discrepancies and follow-up actions. Use statuses such as requested, scheduled, completed, clarification required or additional reference needed.
Store the record with access appropriate to its purpose and retain only what the recruitment process needs. A reference should support a decision, not become an uncontrolled collection of personal commentary.
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A strong reference check has a clear purpose, a verified source, consistent questions, relevant evidence and an honest record of what the referee could—and could not—confirm.