Content area
Full text
Reference checking is getting a lot easier-and some say more accurate-thanks to web-based automation. Reference checking is a critical step in the hiring process, but the time involved in tracking down contacts and the difficulty of getting them to do more than confirm dates of employment can be frustrating.
Online automated reference checking, however, offers anonymity for the reference, efficiency for the recruiter and a more comprehensive report on the candidate.
"It's simply automating one of the last elements of recruiting that used to be heavily manual," said Yves Lermusi, chief executive officer of Checkster in Mill Valley, Calif., whose company offers a product called Reference Checkup. "Because it is confidential, people are more forthcoming. And because it's online, the process goes faster."
Drawbacks of such systems include the inability of a recruiter to follow up with a reference for clarification or to hear the reference's tone of voice. But automated reference checking offers many benefits to employers.
Time Efficiencies
Traditional reference checking is "very time-consuming and intrusive to the reference," said Babek Dehnad, vice president of human resources at Phoenix Technologies in Milpitas, Calif., and a client of Checkster.
With automation, the recruiter takes about two minutes to send an e-mail link to the job candidate. It is then the candidate, not the recruiter, who contacts five or more references to fill out a tailored questionnaire online. The vendor collects the surveys and creates an analytical report for the employer.
Lou Manzi,...