Employment reference -- What info did you ask from the previous company?

Starlet

Does anybody here work in Human Resources? Or have you ever been the "new" Line Manager who offered a job to someone but had to wait to receive "satisfactory" references?

What info did you ask from the previous company to form the reference that you requested?
Did you just want a statement confirming the dates of their previous employment?
Or, did you ask intricate questions - If this was the case, what did you ask?

(Instead of searching on Google, I prefer to ask on these forums because I'm looking for real-life examples from people who have been directly involved in the hiring process.)

Thank you

elsien

Standard company reference form. Which I would sometimes follow up with a phone call - sometimes people are a little more open on the phone than in writing. That led to a job offer being rescinded for dishonesty when the person who said they'd had no sickness in 3 years had been off sick for a good few weeks.

I don't recall all the questions but off the top of my head dates employed, main duties, timekeeping/reliability, strengths, areas needing work, sickness record (not sure if that's still on), disciplinary record, and would they employ them again?

Whether I got all the answers was a different matter.

Mr.Generous

yes pretty much as above, confirmed dates employed, position employed, conduct (tick box excellent/good/fair/poor) attendance (tick box) number days absence in last 12 months, any reason to doubt candidates honesty or integrity? would you prefer a phone call to discuss? would you re employ? if not why not?

Leo2020

As mentioned you might not get all the answers. Some employers will give dates of emloyment and sickness record but not much else and certainly will not give personal references such as to whether they had any weaknesses - the people giving the refernces are often from HR and wouldnt know the person from Adam.

DKLS

I received a reference request this morning and its asked for:

Job title:
Start date:
End date:
Quality of work:
Attendance record:
Productivity/Speed:
Effort & Commitment:
Reason for leaving:

As this is a personal reference and came to me direct I will fill it in full, if it came via work all I would be allowed to confirm, is job title and start and end date.

saker75

I rarely complete standard reference request forms but provide a short factual paragraph. I have given a "bad" reference which resulted in a job offer being withdrawn. It was wholly factual but I genuinely could not put my name to any document that even tacitly endorsed the candidate. Felt awful for weeks afterwards but it was the right thing to do. Otherwise I tend to be glowing in the references I give.

makeyourdaddyproud

Leo2020 wrote: »

As mentioned you might not get all the answers. Some employers will give dates of emloyment and sickness record but not much else and certainly will not give personal references such as to whether they had any weaknesses.

That is exactly how references should be done. No extra info should ever be given because behavioural references are known to be inconsistent, subjective and unreliable.

paddyrg

I have received several calls about previous employees - phone less durable, so people more likely to speak candidly...

Caroline_a

Large corporates generally tend to only put start and leaving date and job titles. Rarely put anything about performance, etc.

Undervalued

DKLS wrote: »

I received a reference request this morning and its asked for:

Job title:
Start date:
End date:
Quality of work:
Attendance record:
Productivity/Speed:
Effort & Commitment:
Reason for leaving:

As this is a personal reference and came to me direct I will fill it in full, if it came via work all I would be allowed to confirm, is job title and start and end date.

Sorry but that is not a personal reference.

You could only be in a position to comment on most of those questions because of your work. If you answer them contrary to your employer's policy you are leaving yourself wide open to disciplinary action.

A personal reference would be based on your friendship with the candidate and you could comment in any way you like about his character and activities outside of the workplace.

shortcrust

I would be very unhappy if a previous employer listed my 'areas needing work' in a reference. Thankfully I know that none of them would.