The Ultimate Guide to Writing Effective Reference Check Questions

Reference check questions aren’t just there to verify credentials, they’re an invaluable tool that helps to quickly and effectively filter your candidate pool. Here are just a few reasons why they’re such an important part of the hiring process:

1. They provide an accurate verification of information, such as employment history, qualifications, and job performance.

2. They help you gain insights into a candidate’s work ethic, skills, and achievements.

3. They help you understand how well the candidate fits into team dynamics and company culture.

4. They help you identify potential concerns, such as disciplinary actions or reasons for leaving prior jobs.

5. They protect your company from potential legal issues by basing hiring decisions on factual and verified information. 

The key to getting the most out of each point above is to ensure your questions are as relevant as possible to your business. In this blog, we’ll be looking at how to write effective reference check questions, as well as sharing with you our AI tool to help you easily create them.

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What Makes a Reference Question Effective?

Effective reference check questions should be clear, relevant to the role, unbiased, and designed to find out specific insights. Here are a few things to aim for:

Clarity - If your question is ambiguous or too complicated, the referee could misinterpret it or provide a more generic answer. Try to aim for clear language that gets straight to the point and will easily give you the information you’re looking for. Asking for specific examples and details will also help you to get a better understanding of the candidate’s unique skills, abilities, and work style.

Relevance - Focus your questions on competencies, behaviours, and outcomes that are directly linked to the job you're hiring for. Irrelevant questions will just waste time and miss an opportunity to gain valuable feedback. Don’t rush this step, take some time to figure out exactly what kind of information will be valuable to finding a good fit.

Neutrality - This helps to avoid biased or leading answers. Try to ask open-ended questions that allow the referee to respond honestly and on their own terms rather than closed questions that would push them in a particular direction.

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Types of Insights to Aim For

Effective reference check questions are there to help you gain meaningful insights that will help you make wise hiring decisions. To achieve that, you need to focus on gathering feedback in the areas that matter. Here are a few of the core categories that might be helpful:

• Performance and Job Competence - How well did the candidate perform in their previous role?

• Teamwork and Collaboration - How do they handle conflict or feedback?

• Communication Skills - Does the candidate communicate effectively with colleagues, managers, and clients?

• Reliability and Work Ethic - Can they be relied on to meet strict deadlines?

• Adaptability and Problem-Solving - How does the candidate handle change or unexpected challenges?

• Leadership and Growth Potential - Does the candidate show any leadership qualities?

Structuring your reference questions around these areas will help you build a more accurate picture of the candidate, beyond what is captured in an interview. 

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Examples of Effective Reference Check Questions

Let’s take a look at some examples of effective reference check questions:

• What were the candidate’s core responsibilities in their role, and how well did they perform them?
  
  
• Can you describe a time when the candidate exceeded expectations?
  
  
• How would you describe the candidate’s ability to work as part of a team?
  
  
• How did they handle feedback or disagreements with colleagues?
  
  
• How effective was the candidate’s communication with peers and management?
  
  
• Did they communicate clearly and professionally in high-pressure situations?
  
  
• Would you describe the candidate as dependable and consistent in their work?
  
  
• How did they handle tight deadlines or shifting priorities?
  
  
• Can you give an example of how the candidate responded to a significant change or challenge?
  
  
• Did they take the initiative to resolve issues independently?
  
  
• Did the candidate take on any leadership responsibilities or mentor others?
  
  
• How would you rate their potential for growth in future roles?

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Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Now that we’ve covered how to write effective reference check questions, it’s important to remember what to try and avoid. Poorly worded questions can lead to unhelpful or biased responses, which will weaken your hiring decisions. To get the most out of your reference checks, try to avoid:

• Vague Questions 

• Leading Questions

• Overly Personal Questions 

• Irrelevant Questions 

• Too Many Closed Questions

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How Our AI Tool Helps You Create Better Questions

We appreciate that there’s a lot to consider when it comes to creating effective reference check questions, which is why we created an AI Questions Generator that does the hard work for you.

Simply paste the job description of the position for which you need reference check questions, click ‘Generate Questions’, and you’ll have instant access to 25 tailored reference check questions that you can use to collect more detailed feedback throughout your hiring process. This tool covers everything we’ve touched on in this blog without the manual work.

For increased accuracy, our tool offers a range of different types of question formats, including:

1. Short Text
2. Long Text
3. Dropdown
4. Number 
5. File Upload
6. Radio List
7. Multi-Select
8. Continuum Slider

Using the right question format will help you get clearer answers. For example, you might choose dropdowns for objective metrics and continuum sliders for judgment-based responses.

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Final Thoughts

Remember to keep your questions clear, relevant, and neutral to ensure you receive the most meaningful feedback possible. Well-designed questions lead to better insights, which ultimately leads to stronger hiring decisions. 

Most importantly, remember that writing effective reference check questions doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Our AI Questions Generator covers all the key requirements and creates relevant questions that will help you better understand a candidate’s past performance, skills, and reliability, giving you ultimate confidence in your hiring process.