Ask HN: Do you call the references or past employers of candidates? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you call the references or past employers of candidates?

5 pointsOvid5 comments

I always check the references of candidates, but I almost always ignore the answers because the candidates list their friends as references. The reason I still check is that occasional moment when a candidate forgets to check their own references and I get an earful (my favorite was when I reached the wife instead of the husband and found out the candidate was having an affair).

Frankly, I don't think anyone's checked my references, either personal or work, in years. How many of you still do this?

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Sure, we've done it (for software developers). I'm not sure how a "friend" can be consider a legitimate reference, unless that friend was also a supervisor and or co-worker in a professional setting. If a person can provide multiple such "friends", it gives you at least some level of assurance.

Also, be wary of those that do not give references from recent (especially their latest) employers. Sure, they will have their side of the story about what went wrong, but you'll never get the full picture unless you call that company up and ask. For example, we recently let go of a developer that was just a net negative on our team. He basically left a bad impression on everyone he worked with. He's one of the reasons we're doing more rigorous reference checking now and I'm sure he won't be listing us as a reference (even though he worked here for over a year - the wheels of HR turn slowly). However, if a prospective employer of his were to give anyone here an unsolicited call, I'm sure we could save them quite a bit of pain and money.

I recently had my references checked by a recruiter. I know because they called me to let me know.

May I ask what sort of position this was for?

I've never checked references. The best test for a developer, after interviewing them, is to work with them, for pay, for a few days or a week. That should quickly reveal any character faults or inefficiencies with working with your team.

Hire slow, fire fast :)

I live in France. Firing fast is generally very illegal :)

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