{"id":506,"date":"2016-06-23T12:26:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T18:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/?p=506"},"modified":"2016-06-23T12:26:58","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T18:26:58","slug":"know-what-references-are-good-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/know-what-references-are-good-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Know What References are Good For"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cStop asking for references<\/a>,\u201d is the title and bottom line of Al Pittampalli\u2019s article on the common practice.<\/p>\n

Why stop? According to Mr. Pittampalli, because they are a flawed instrument likely to give you little reliable information and false confidence.<\/p>\n

The flaws he points out are true: references are nothing like a scientific survey; checking references is so late in the process that you\u2019re bound to be emotionally committed to hiring already — which shuts down critical thinking.<\/p>\n

When Mr. Pittampalli gave an honest, negative review of a former coworker they ended up getting the job anyway. His story is easy to relate to. That manager clearly blew it.<\/p>\n

Taking a different approach, if you change your goal from \u201cfill this opening\u201d to \u201cavoid a bad hire\u201d \u2013 as ManagerTools encourages us to<\/a> \u2013 then you are less likely to fall prey to the confirmation bias when checking references.<\/p>\n

Mr. Pittampalli points out how ineffective reference checking was for the caller in his story. He is absolutely correct. I suggest that the problem is deeper than reference checking itself.<\/p>\n

The fundamental issue is championed by Mark Horstman and company at Manager Tools: vetting a candidate is designed to say, “no.” Get that right, and references can be useful — not perfect, but useful.<\/em><\/p>\n

At worst, checking references wastes time and builds false confidence. If there is a chance you can do it properly<\/a> and avoid a bad hire, then I say do it.<\/p>\n

More from Al Pittampalli:<\/p>\n