Reference check questions that get you a real answer
Reference check questions work when they ask about specific past behaviour instead of general opinion. Call former managers, agree one question set per role, and press for examples. Confirm dates and title first, then spend the rest of the call on the claims your interview left unclear.
What a reference check can and cannot tell you
- OPM rates reference check questions above years of education or job experience as a predictor, and below a cognitive ability test.
- OPM notes many employers refuse to give negative information, fearing a defamation suit. Silence is usually policy, not a verdict.
- Use it at final selection, after the pool is narrowed. It is a confirmation step, not a screen.
- Some applicants find the whole exercise invasive, so ask their permission and tell them who you plan to call.
How to run a reference check
- Get permission, and let the candidate introduce you Ask the candidate for written consent and for the introduction. A referee who has been warned by someone they like picks up, and picks up willing to talk. "Could you drop Priya a line to say I will call Thursday?"
- Ask for former managers by name A peer nominated as a friend will tell you the candidate is lovely. The person who set their goals and signed their review can tell you how the work landed.
- Agree one question set per role before the first call Base it on the job itself, not on whoever is calling. OPM recommends structuring reference checks from a job analysis with standardised data collection and rating procedures.
- Hold 20 minutes, and line up 3 contacts OPM puts a structured telephone reference check at about 20 minutes per contact and recommends a minimum of 3 contacts. Book them in the same week so memory stays even.
- Write answers down while they are being said Quotes, not impressions. One sheet per reference, filled in live, is the only way 3 calls compare at the end of the week.
Phone call, email or form
| Format | What you get | What you lose | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone call | The pause before an answer, the follow-up you did not plan, the thing said after "off the record". | A written record unless you take one. Scheduling friction across time zones. | Finalists, and any claim you actually need tested. |
| Video call | Everything a phone gives you, plus a face, which some referees find warmer. | More scheduling friction, and some referees decline video from a stranger. | Senior hires, or when the referee offered it. |
| Email questionnaire | A written answer in the referee's own words, on their own time, in their own inbox. | The follow-up. Answers get drafted, shortened, and run past someone. | Verification facts, and referees in other countries. |
| Online form or survey | A clean record and ratings that line up. A reference check survey compares easily across 3 contacts. | Nuance. A form cannot ask "what do you mean by that?" | High volume, or when several people must read the same answers. |
10 reference check questions, and what a useful answer sounds like
What was your working relationship, and over what period did you see their work closely?
Dates that roughly match the resume, a named reporting line, and an honest limit: "I managed her for the first year, then she moved to another team."
Who would know the later period better than you?
What were they actually responsible for delivering, and how did that go?
A named piece of work with a start and an end, what the referee expected, and what turned up. Not a job title read back to you.
What did the finished thing look like?
Tell me about something that went wrong on their watch. What did they do?
A real incident, their own part in it named without defensiveness by the referee, and what they did before anyone told them to.
Did you find out from them, or from someone else?
Who on the team found them easiest to work with, and who found them hardest?
Two specific kinds of colleague, with a reason. The question is hard to answer with praise, which is why it is worth asking.
What did the harder relationship look like day to day?
What was a decision they made that you would have made differently?
One decision, the referee's own reasoning, and whether it turned out the way either of them expected. Disagreement without a grudge.
How did they take it when you said so?
What kind of work did they go looking for when nobody assigned it?
A pattern the referee noticed rather than an adjective. Evidence of what pulls this person in, which is what you are hiring for.
What did they avoid?
When they told you something would be ready, how often was it?
A direct answer, and how the referee knew. A referee who hesitates here and then softens it is telling you something.
What happened the time it slipped?
What was the one thing you were coaching them on when they left?
A specific weakness, framed as work in progress, and whether it moved. Every honest manager has an answer.
Had it improved by the end?
If a role opened on your team tomorrow, would you hire them again?
Yes, no, or a policy answer. The qualifier matters more than the word: "yes, for delivery work" is a different answer from "yes".
What role would you not put them in?
Is there anything I should have asked you and did not?
Often the most useful 30 seconds of the call. A referee holding something back will usually let it go here rather than volunteer it earlier.
Stay quiet and let the silence run.
The principle
A reference who gives you an opinion has told you nothing you can use. A reference who gives you a dated example has told you almost everything. Getting from the first to the second is the whole skill.
Reference verification questions, and why they are a separate job
| What you are checking | The question | Why it is separate |
|---|---|---|
| Employment dates | Can you confirm the dates they worked with you, start and finish? | A fact HR can answer without approval. It also anchors every later answer to a real period. |
| Job title and level | What was their title when they left, and was that the level they worked at? | Title inflation is common and rarely dishonest. You want the level, which the title may not carry. |
| Reporting line | Who did they report to, and did anybody report to them? | Decides whether this referee saw the work directly, and whether a management claim holds. |
| Reason for leaving | Was the departure their decision or the company's? | Many employers will answer this and nothing else, so ask it before you spend goodwill elsewhere. |
| Eligibility for rehire | Is this person eligible for rehire with you? | California expressly permits a former employer to say whether they would rehire. Elsewhere, policy varies. |
A reference call script you can read down the phone
OPEN (30 seconds) "Hi [Name], I am [You] at [Company]. [Candidate] is a finalist for our [Role] and gave me your name. Is now still good for 20 minutes?" CONSENT CHECK "They have given us written permission to speak with you. Anything you would rather not answer, just say so." VERIFY (2 minutes, straight through) 1. Can you confirm their dates with you, start and finish? 2. What was their title when they left? 3. Who did they report to, and did anyone report to them? 4. Was the departure their decision or the company's? PERFORMANCE (12 minutes, ask for an occasion every time) 5. What were they responsible for delivering, and how did that go? 6. Tell me about something that went wrong on their watch. 7. Who found them easiest to work with, and who found them hardest? 8. What were you coaching them on when they left? TEST THE OPEN CLAIM 9. "[Candidate] told us they [claim your interview left unclear]. What did that look like from where you sat?" REHIRE, THEN THE OPEN DOOR 10. If a role opened tomorrow, would you hire them again? 11. Is there anything I should have asked and did not? CLOSE "That is helpful. If we go ahead, may I come back with one follow-up?"
Questions you should not ask a reference
You cannot route a question through a reference that you could not put to the candidate. The EEOC lists asking another person about someone's disability as a form of disability-related inquiry in its own right, and pre-offer disability inquiries are prohibited. The same guidance is blunt that race, sex, national origin, age and religion are irrelevant to whether someone can do the job.
Salary history is the other trap, because it feels like a verification fact. California bars an employer from seeking salary history "orally or in writing, personally or through an agent", which plainly covers asking a former manager on your behalf. Rules differ by state and city and several places have their own version, so check the one you hire in before you write the script.
Asking well
Do
- Ask for one specific occasion, with roughly when it happened, every single time
- Stay quiet after the question. The second half of an answer is the useful half
- Save the rehire question until late, once the referee is talking freely
- Write the words they used, not the impression you formed while they spoke
Do not
- Leading questions. "She was great with deadlines, wasn't she?" hands them your answer
- Yes or no phrasing, which gives a busy referee an easy exit
- Reading warmth or hesitation as evidence. Tone is not a finding
- Letting the candidate hand you 3 friends and no former manager
Before you pick up the phone
- Written consent from the candidate, recorded where your team can find it
- Referee confirmed as a former manager, not a nominated friend
- One question set agreed for this role, before the first call
- The claims your interview left unclear, written out as questions
- 20 minutes held, with no meeting straight after it
- Recording sheet open, one per reference
- Agreed who decides if an answer comes back negative
When a reference is negative, or just lukewarm
One negative voice is data, not a verdict. Go back and ask for a second contact at the same employer, ideally someone who saw the same work. Separate what is a fact, such as 3 missed dates on a named project, from what is a characterisation, such as "not a team player". Facts can be put to the candidate. Characterisations usually cannot, and should not decide anything on their own.
Read from the candidate's side too, because negative references are more often silence than criticism. Many employers refuse to give negative information about former staff for fear of a defamation claim, which is why so many calls stop at dates and title. California gives a qualified privilege to a reference given on request, without malice, on credible evidence, which is one reason some former managers there will say more.
The claims worth spending your reference call on
An example scorecard marking resume claims as verified, refuted or unclear, with the evidence behind each verdict.
The reference call is a separate, human job, and The Cognitive does not make it. What a structured interview can do is tell you which claims are still open when the interview ends, so the 20 minutes on the phone go on those rather than on ground you already covered.
A reference sheet for comparing three calls
REFERENCE [1 / 2 / 3] ROLE: ______________ CANDIDATE: ______________ Referee name / title: ______________ Relationship: manager / peer / client / other Period they saw the work: ______ to ______ Call date: ______ VERIFIED Dates confirmed Y / N / declined Title and level Y / N / declined Reporting line Y / N / declined Reason for leaving ______________________________ Eligible for rehire Y / N / declined SIGNALS (rate 1 to 5, and write the words they used) Performance __ / 5 "____________________________________" Ownership __ / 5 "____________________________________" Collaboration __ / 5 "____________________________________" Judgement __ / 5 "____________________________________" Reliability __ / 5 "____________________________________" OPEN CLAIM TESTED: ______________________________ Their account: ______________________________ ANYTHING THAT CONTRADICTS THE INTERVIEW: ______________________________ Declined to answer: ______________________________ The rating is here so 3 calls can be compared against the same evidence. It is not a score that decides the hire.
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Frequently asked questions
What questions should you ask when checking a reference?
Start with verification: dates, title, reporting line, reason for leaving and eligibility for rehire. Then move to judgement, with one question each on performance, ownership, collaboration, motivation and reliability. Close with the rehire question and an open catch-all. The questions to ask reference check calls all share one rule: ask for a specific occasion, not an opinion.
What do employers ask for in a reference?
Less than candidates expect. Many employers confirm only employment dates, job title and whether you are eligible for rehire, because giving negative information about a former employee risks a defamation claim. What questions do jobs ask references beyond that depends entirely on whether the referee is willing to talk, which is why an introduction from the candidate matters so much.
What questions can you ask a personal reference?
Reference questions to ask personal references should stay in the area they can actually speak to: how long they have known the person, in what capacity, and one specific occasion that shows reliability or how they handle pressure. Personal reference questions and answers cannot tell you how someone performs at work, so do not weight them as if they can.
How many references should you check, and how long does each take?
OPM puts a structured telephone reference check at about 20 minutes per contact and recommends a minimum of 3 contacts. Book them in the same week so the accounts are fresh and comparable, and hold the full 20 minutes rather than trying to compress the call. A rushed check usually returns only the verification facts.
What should you do about a negative reference?
Do not decide on one voice. Ask for a second contact at the same employer who saw the same work, and separate the facts from the characterisations. A fact, such as a missed deadline on a named project, can be put to the candidate for their account. A characterisation usually cannot be, and should not carry a decision by itself.
Do reference checks actually predict job performance?
They help. OPM describes reference checking as useful for predicting job performance, better than years of education or job experience, but not as effective as cognitive ability tests. Treat it as a confirmation step at final selection that adds something alongside your other methods, rather than a standalone predictor you can rank candidates on.
What questions should you ask a vendor's references?
Vendor reference check questions are a different job: you are calling a supplier's existing customers before you buy, not a candidate's former manager. Ask what the rollout actually took against what was quoted, what broke in the first 90 days, what support looks like when something goes wrong, and whether they would buy it again today.
Can software run reference checks for you?
Automated reference tools send a structured questionnaire to referees and compile the responses, which is the shape most searches for skillsurvey reference questions are looking for. SkillSurvey is one such tool: its domain now redirects to a page on the iCIMS site, so check there for what it currently does. Note the boundary: when a third party gathers reference information for your hiring decision, it can be an investigative consumer report under the FCRA, bringing written disclosure and certification duties. Check with counsel before outsourcing.
Where does AI fit in reference checking?
Not on the call. The Cognitive does not contact referees or run reference checks. What it does is finish the interview with a scorecard that marks each resume claim as verified, refuted or unclear with the evidence behind it, so the claims still marked unclear become your reference questions. Start free at app.thecognitive.io/signup, or try a live interview first.
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