How can H.R. Managers evaluate a reference check report of a prospective employee objectively, specially when the feedback from multiple organisations where he has worked may be diametrically opposite. Out of seven companies where the candidate had worked , five may have given him an excellent reference while a couple may have given a poor rating. Should the candidate be hired?
From India, Kolkata
From India, Kolkata
Dear Bhowal Kaushik,
In what capacity have you raised the post? Are you a candidate in question or the HR Manager who is hiring the candidate?
Have you done reference checks from the candidate's seven companies? Why a need was felt to do so many checks? If the hiring decision were to be taken on the recommendations of past employers, then what job recruitment department will have?
Members of this forum expect sufficient background information to be provided.
Recruitment is about checking the candidate's competence, personality etc. A skilful interviewer asks questions to assess the personality of the candidate. The replies given by the candidate should drive the hiring decisions.
What if the past employer gives negative feedback purely out of malice? Should malicious feedback be taken at its face value? In fact, the opposite can also be true. What if the candidate is bad but the employer gives goody-goody feedback? Will the feedback not be deceptive in either case?
Please provide us with sufficient information about the case at hand. When guesses become replies, it may not serve the purpose of raising the post at all.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
7879In what capacity have you raised the post? Are you a candidate in question or the HR Manager who is hiring the candidate?
Have you done reference checks from the candidate's seven companies? Why a need was felt to do so many checks? If the hiring decision were to be taken on the recommendations of past employers, then what job recruitment department will have?
Members of this forum expect sufficient background information to be provided.
Recruitment is about checking the candidate's competence, personality etc. A skilful interviewer asks questions to assess the personality of the candidate. The replies given by the candidate should drive the hiring decisions.
What if the past employer gives negative feedback purely out of malice? Should malicious feedback be taken at its face value? In fact, the opposite can also be true. What if the candidate is bad but the employer gives goody-goody feedback? Will the feedback not be deceptive in either case?
Please provide us with sufficient information about the case at hand. When guesses become replies, it may not serve the purpose of raising the post at all.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Hi,
In some Companies referral checks are carried just as a customary procedure where in the if the employer is already decided to hire based on unique skill set/ experience of the employee they might not pay much attention to feedback and just proceed with their decision. It happened some time back though we gave a negative feedback to a employee who had absconded without information, even after that feedback that absconded employee was hired by the new employer based on their need for the particular level. Also even HR Managers cannot take unilateral decisions in certain cases. If the technical team feels that the candidate is too good for the role , in the absence of more suitable candidates HR is forced to recruit. Ultimately it is the production / project requirement decides all these factors.
From India, Madras
In some Companies referral checks are carried just as a customary procedure where in the if the employer is already decided to hire based on unique skill set/ experience of the employee they might not pay much attention to feedback and just proceed with their decision. It happened some time back though we gave a negative feedback to a employee who had absconded without information, even after that feedback that absconded employee was hired by the new employer based on their need for the particular level. Also even HR Managers cannot take unilateral decisions in certain cases. If the technical team feels that the candidate is too good for the role , in the absence of more suitable candidates HR is forced to recruit. Ultimately it is the production / project requirement decides all these factors.
From India, Madras
Employer feedback is very subjective, and depends on a lot of factors.
As my colleague Dinesh above has said, past employer feedback is only ONE factor in the recruitment and selection process.
If you have a robust and well documented process that is followed by all managers when recruiting staff, then you will find the right people, based on a range of factors. You should never discount potentially excellent candidates based on a couple of less than glowing referee reports if they meet all the other criteria you have set out for the job.
From Australia, Melbourne
As my colleague Dinesh above has said, past employer feedback is only ONE factor in the recruitment and selection process.
If you have a robust and well documented process that is followed by all managers when recruiting staff, then you will find the right people, based on a range of factors. You should never discount potentially excellent candidates based on a couple of less than glowing referee reports if they meet all the other criteria you have set out for the job.
From Australia, Melbourne
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For Sitting Managers.ppt
Reference Checking Format_1.doc