Reference Check Questions and Form

Reference check questions that stick to the job, and a free form to record each call, in Word and PDF. Use it when you’ve interviewed your finalists and want to hear from people who have seen their work. Every reference gets the same questions, so you can compare candidates fairly. The answers go on paper, and the candidate’s permission is on file before you pick up the phone.

What you get

A Word file to fill in on screen, and a seven-page PDF sized for US Letter paper:

• Pages 1–2: the reference check form, one copy for each call.
• Page 3: the candidate’s list of references and their permission to call them.
• Pages 4–6: the same pages completed for a fictional bookkeeping firm.
• Page 7: notes on what you can and can’t ask, background check companies and record keeping, with sources.

Page one records who you called and when, confirms you have permission, and checks the facts against the application: dates, job title, duties and reason for leaving. Then come the questions about work and skills and about reliability. Page two covers working with others and fit for the job. It ends with an overall rating, a summary box for follow-up and a reminder of what never to ask.

Reference check questions to ask

Work and skills

• What were their main responsibilities day to day?
• What were their strongest skills? Can you give an example?
• Where could they improve? How did they take feedback?
• How accurate and careful was their work?

Reliability

• How was their attendance and timekeeping?
• Did they meet deadlines? Tell me about a time one was tight.

Working with others

• How did they work with coworkers, customers or clients?
• Tell me about a disagreement or a difficult customer. What did they do?

Fit for this job

• This job involves [two or three key duties]. How do you think they would do?
• Would you hire them again? Why or why not?
• Is there anything else about their work I should know?

The last question often gets the most useful answer. Leave a pause after it.

How to check references

1. Check references for your finalists only, after the interviews.
2. Ask each finalist for at least two references, including someone who supervised them, and for their signed permission on the permission page.
3. Fill in the key duties of your job before you call, so the “fit” question is specific.
4. Call, say who you are and which job it’s for, and that the candidate gave you their name.
5. Confirm the facts first. It’s an easy start, and a mismatch is worth knowing about.
6. Ask the questions in order. Ask for examples, and write down what you hear, not what you conclude.
7. Write the summary straight after the call, and note anything to raise with the candidate.
8. Compare the forms, make your decision, then send the offer letter, or a rejection letter to the others.

Completed example

The example in the download is from a fictional bookkeeping firm checking references for a staff bookkeeper. The candidate’s former supervisor confirms his dates, job title and duties, and gives specific answers about his accuracy, a vendor dispute he settled and a tight year-end close. One gap comes up: he has entered payroll but never run it. The summary flags it as a question for the second interview. The permission page lists three references, and the office-use box shows which two were called.

Questions you can’t ask a reference

The rule of thumb: don’t ask a reference anything you couldn’t ask the candidate. The EEOC says an employer may not ask a third party, including a former employer, any question it couldn’t ask the applicant directly. Before an offer, that means no questions about disability, health or workers’ compensation claims. You can ask about a past attendance record.

Also leave out age, pregnancy or family plans, religion, race, national origin and other protected traits. Some states and cities ban asking about pay history. California, for example, bars employers from seeking it “personally or through an agent” (Labor Code 432.3). Where a ban applies, don’t ask references about past pay either.

Reference checks vs. background checks

Calling references yourself is a reference check. Paying a screening company to do it, or to run a background check, brings in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. A report built from interviews with people who know the candidate is an “investigative consumer report” (15 U.S.C. 1681a(e)). Before you get one, the FTC says you must tell the candidate in writing, in a stand-alone document, and get their written permission. If you then reject them because of the report, there are notices to send first. The permission page in this template covers your own calls; it isn’t an FCRA disclosure.

Reference check vs. employment verification

A reference check asks people who know the candidate’s work how they did it. An employment verification only confirms facts from the employer’s records, such as job title and dates, and many employers answer every reference call that way. If that’s all you get, record it under “Confirm the facts”, tick “Facts only” and ask the candidate for another work reference. When your own former employees ask you for a letter, the employment verification letter and the reference letter cover both sides.

Hiring and not sure what you can ask in your state? hrsupport.io answers HR questions for your state, with the law behind every answer.