In part 18 of our startup hiring series, we’ll be looking at reference checks.
Reference checks on candidates you haven’t worked with directly are crucial when hiring your early stage team. For a startup, one wrong hire can delay the job for months. Reference checks show that the information you gathered during the interview process was correct or incorrect. Reference checks usually give you an additional signal (positive or negative) and can also uncover issues you missed during the interview process.
There are two types of references: formal references and backchannel references.
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Formal References These are references provided by the candidate. Before making an offer, have two or three formal references ready to go through for final review. Ask the candidate for references from people they have worked with, such as their supervisor or peers. If they have supervisory experience, you can also ask for their direct reports.
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Back channel reference These are references you find yourself to get information about the candidate. Use backchannel references throughout the process to get information and avoid wasting time on candidates you shouldn’t hire.
High-level best practices
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A typical reference call lasts between 15 and 30 minutes.
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Start getting backdoor recommendations early so you don’t waste time on candidates you won’t hire. Try to get at least 2-3 backdoor recommendations throughout the process.
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To respect the privacy of candidates, Very careful There’s not much known about asking for a backdoor recommendation from a colleague at your current employer. Instead, consider your previous employer. If you absolutely must give a backdoor recommendation to your current employer, try to reach out to someone who has left the company and knows their work well.
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Let your references do the talking and don’t interrupt them. Humans are terrible at making up stories, so this is a great way to get to the truth.
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By default, references return positive values, so a mixed reference is usually a bad signal.
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Once you are fairly certain of the hire, move on to formal references. If you ultimately don’t get the job, it will be an awkward situation for the candidate and the referencer, and the candidate will wonder if something the reference said caused them to miss out on the job. If you’re still unsure, try to get more signals first, or do a backdoor recommendation before moving on to formal references.
How to conduct a reference call
Most calls with references will start with talking a bit about the company and the role, learning more about the reference’s relationship with the candidate. Then, it’s time to get to the core of the reference. Typically, you’ll want to hear about the candidate’s work, strengths, areas of improvement/gap, and high marks from the reference. You should tailor some questions to specific things that are important to the company role, or where you are missing information based on your interview performance.
Here’s a template you can use to structure your reference call, which includes many example questions, but please note that this is not an exhaustive list and you shouldn’t ask every reference question every time.
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Start with some background on the company and the role for which you are considering candidates
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Learn more about the recommender and their relationship to the candidate
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What was your role at the company?
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How did you find out about the candidates?
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How did you work with the candidate? For how long?
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How was the team structured?
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Get an overview of the candidate’s work.
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Strengths
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What do you see as the candidate’s greatest strength?
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What aspects of the job did the candidate really focus on?
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What is the candidate’s biggest accomplishment while you worked together?
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Room for improvement/gaps
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If you were managing a candidate, what advice would you give to yourself?
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What other elements does the candidate need on their team to be successful?
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When hiring candidates, what advice would you give to set them up for success in the first 90 days?
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If you were to work with the candidate again, what areas would you coach them in?
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[optional] Ask about other areas that may be important to understand depending on the particular candidate and role.
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Work style — How would you describe the candidate’s work style?
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Accept feedback —Have you ever given feedback to a candidate? How did they respond?
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Personality — What will it be like working with the candidate on a day-to-day basis?
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Work ethic — How would you describe the candidate’s work ethic? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rank the candidate in terms of work ethic?
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Get candidates quantified across the board
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rank the candidate compared to their peers?
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On the scale of “best person I’ve ever worked with,” where would you rank the candidate? Top 5%, 10%, 25%, above average, average
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Would you hire this candidate again?
Sample email/text message requesting a recommendation
Throughout the hiring process, we’ll give you plenty of examples of emails and texts you can send to get formal and backdoor references, but if no one responds, that in itself can be a bad sign.
Early Backchannel
Hello referenceI [confidentially] Consider speaking up candidate It’s about working with our startups. Can you take a moment to just give us a quick summary of your experience working with them?
Late Back Channel (Intro)
Hey Introduction,
We’ve been spending a lot of time candidate, Things are moving fast. referencewho worked at CANDIDATE. Is there a chance to get in touch with us? Or, reference My Number XXXXXXXXX Have them call me directly.
thank you! Steve
Formal Reference
Hello referenceAs you may already know, we candidate I contacted them about joining their startup and they gave me your phone number. They said you’d be a great person to talk to about what it’s like to work with them. Would you be able to spare some time for me in the next few days? Thank you. Steve
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We are nearing the final stage of our startup recruitment guide. Part 19We cover all aspects of pitching candidates and closing the deal.
During…
