What Are Digital Reference Checks?

A traditional reference check can be a plodding process. It typically involves someone from a company, often human resources, contacting a candidate’s former employers or colleagues via phone or email. 

It can be time-consuming and inconsistent, and bias, perhaps attached to past grievances, can easily color a person’s reference. It also relies heavily on communication skills, the availability of references, and the HR personnel conducting the checks.

Digital reference checks are the future. Instead of the tedious process of old, candidates provide contact information for their references, who then receive a link to an online questionnaire. 

These questionnaires are designed to gather specific information about the candidate’s work history, performance, skills, and behavior in a structured format. It can then be analyzed and compiled into a single report for the hiring manager. 

It’s a huge time saver but ensures that the information gathered is consistent and comparable across different candidates. References all get the same questionnaire, which means the final report reflects a balanced, non-biased interpretation of each candidate.

Companies can choose what kind of information is included in digital reference checks but typically include:

Employment Verification: A vital section that confirms or denies a candidate’s previous job titles, dates of employment, and job responsibilities. It’s essential to verify accuracy and whether they have the relevant experience for the role.

Performance Insights: Potential employers often want a little extra information to paint an accurate picture of a candidate. Here, references are asked to give specific feedback on the candidate’s job performance, including achievements, work quality, productivity, and overall contribution to the organization. 

Work Ethic and Attitude: Any employer must consider whether a candidate would be a good fit in terms of work ethic and attitude. A digital reference check also gathers information on the candidate’s reliability, punctuality, teamwork, and general attitude in the workplace. 

Skills and Competencies: It’s essential to confirm specific skills and competencies related to a job position, and this section can gather information on technical skills, communication abilities, leadership qualities, and problem-solving capabilities.

Behavioral Attributes: This section evaluates the candidate’s behavior in various situations, such as their ability to handle stress, adaptability to change, conflict resolution skills, and interpersonal interactions.

Speed up the hiring process

Traditional background checks take longer than required. Vacations, sluggish responses, or a message put on the back burner can slow things down, which can be infuriating when you need to fill a position.

Digital reference checks significantly reduce the time required to gather and analyze reference information. By automating the process, sending out questionnaires, and compiling the data, HR personnel can get the information they need in hours rather than days or weeks.

Save resources

Contacting people manually takes time, which equates to time away from other pressing responsibilities. With digital reference checks, the process is significantly quicker, which means less time hassling strangers and more time on other critical aspects of the hiring process, such as interviewing candidates and negotiating job offers.

Ensure consistency and fairness

Bias within the hiring process is still very much a problem—both from the hiring and reference sides of things. Digital reference checks bring consistency to the hiring process by ensuring that everybody gets the same questionnaire, which in turn means the same questions asked of every candidate. 

Improve data accuracy

There’s no other way to look at it: humans experience more error and miscommunication than automated systems. The standardized questionnaires ensure that all relevant information is collected, and the automated analysis helps to identify patterns and insights that might be missed in a manual process. It leads to more accurate and reliable data, supporting better hiring decisions.

Enhance candidate experience

Hiring can be frustrating, but waiting for weeks while your reference checks, along with other candidates, can be maddening. A streamlined and efficient reference check process looks better for the company, providing a positive overall candidate experience, which is vital in presenting a professional and organized business to potential employees.

Provide actionable insights

A digital reference check is about more than just checking work history. It also highlights key competencies and behaviors to speed up the training and onboarding process. It’s like getting a sneak peek at a new employee before they’ve taken on the role.