If you are in charge of hiring your company’s, or your boss’s company’s employees, then you know the importance of hiring an excellent employee. Checking a candidates background by getting in touch with their references is an excellent way of knowing whether or not this employee is the right man (or woman) for the task. Instead of asking how long have they worked for you, and how did they do, try to mix it up by asking questions that could really help your investigation. Here are just a few questions we can suggest to you when asking references questions.
1. Did this person ask you to be their reference?
2. When said person was at your company, what do you feel they learned?
3. What type of suggestions would you give to this person if you wanted them to extend their career deeper.
4. Were there circumstances that made this employee upset or easily frustrated, and if so, what were they?
5. How did this person happen to handle busy or stressful circumstances in the office?
6. What was their reaction to the management style in your place of work?
7. If this person were to ask for their position back, would you hire them again?
8. If you were in my shoes, what questions would you ask yourself before considering this applicant?
9. Which character from the movie Office Space is this person?
10. Is this employee good enough to be placed in a higher position than they are applying for?
11. Was their anyone at the workplace this person didn’t like, and could you refer to me their contact details.
These are just a few of the brainy questions you can ask a reference. Stay unique and catch them off-guard to avoid the regular answers of, “Yes,” “He was good,” and “I like her.” The more you know about this applicant, the better equipped you will be to decide who gets the job and who has to move on to the next interviewer.
