Special Report: Obtaining Employment References©

  
Jobs Employment, Career Job, Employment Job

 

1. Introduction--advantages and difficulties of reference checking.
2. Why is Verification and Reference Checking is so Important?
3. Policy and legal considerations in giving and obtaining reference checks.
4. Various options for giving references.
5.Various options for obtaining references.
6. Why it is important to try to obtain references, even if a former employer will only give name, rank and serial number?
7. When does it make sense to outsource employment reference checking?
8. How does Employment Screening Resources go about obtaining employment references?
9. In person interviews for highly sensitive positions.

Introduction

1. Advantages and difficulties of reference checking

Employers agree that it is critical to know whom they are hiring. Employment reference checking can be an essential part of that process. However, it can often be a very frustrating part as well. Many employers, on advice of legal counsel, have a no comment policy, allowing only verification of basic information, such as start and end date, and job title. Some companies will not even release salary information, even with a signed release.

The result can be frustrating for everyone. On one hand, firms need the information. On the other hand, there is concern that if they give such information, there can be legal complications. Good prospects are unable to get recommendations they deserve, while applicants with a negative history can go on to a new employer with their history behind them.

Despite these problems, human resources professionals are unanimous that every effort must still be made at reference checking. In this special report, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) discusses why it should be conducted even if no information is given, when it makes sense to outsource it, and finally, how ESR engages in reference checking.

2. Why is Verification and Reference Checking is so Important

There are a number of reasons why former employment verification and reference checking is so critical. First, it should be clear that Verification and Referencing Checking are two different terms.

Verification usually refers to verify factual matters, such as start date, stop date and job title.

Reference Checking means questions about qualitative matters, such as job performance, strong points, weak points and similar matters.

According to industry experts, up to one-third of all resumes contain material falsehoods. For employers, a resume is a factual document that is needed for decision making. For applicants however, a resume can be a sales or marketing tool.

An important reason to check references are to achieve better hiring fits. Information is often better in the hiring process then intuition or instinct. Often times, how a person has performed in the past is a best indicator of how they may perform in the future.

Reference checking also helps protect a company. First, by verifying dates of employment, an employer can make sure there are no unexplained employment gaps. It can be important for an employer to understand what a person was doing during a significant gap. It also confirms the honesty and accuracy of the resume.

Most importantly, it protects the substantial investment that an employer makes when hiring. Not only does it take time to recruit, hire and train, but mistakes can be costly. Estimates of the cost to replace employee range form $10,000 and up. A bad hiring decision can create untold administrative, financial and legal difficulties.

http://www.esrcheck.com