Today’s guest blogger is Javid Muhammedali, Vice President, Product Management Technologies for Monster. Since 2008, Javid has led the team responsible for Monster’s search and match products on the global platform and has led Monster’s Semantic Search product management team to launch multiple products in the US and around the globe.
A good recruiter uses references as part of the hiring process. Seems simple enough. But, paired with the right technology, the reference can become so much more than a form-filling phone call.
The purpose of contacting a job candidate’s references is to further get to know them, their past accomplishments, strengths, areas to improve, and previous employers. This way, if and when further conversations with that candidate are had, there can be a rapport and a truer level of understanding. A better connection.
There are inherent problems with this model. First of all, a recruiter may not be familiar with the candidate’s prior industry or space. Second, without enough background information, the recruiter can only ask rudimentary questions — Did he meet his deadlines? How would you rate this candidate on a scale of one to seven?
So why not couple this with relevant data?
With predictive analytics and the new semantic tools we have at our disposal, the guesswork, the fumbling for answers, and then having those answers miss the target are mitigated if not eliminated completely.
For example, in one scenario let’s say the candidate and reference worked at Acme Healthcare. With analytics, a recruiter can find out more relevant information about the company — titles, skills, top locations broken out by skill-set, etc. — to help give context to the call, and have a more natural conversation, rather than reading from a script.
In a second scenario: The candidate is being hired for “capture management,” a specific skill-set which involves increasing the probability of earning business opportunities — analytics would help a recruiter ask about contract management, RFPs, and get a good sense of how they helped win the deal.
In any pool of candidates there will be candidates who don’t fit, people who do, and then a group in the middle. A recruiter’s job is to work his way toward the group of best fits as efficiently as they can. Reaching out to a reference short of accompanying data and analysis is a huge opportunity lost.
Instead of allowing this portion of the life cycle to be a waste of your time, let the reference work for you. This aspect of recruiting can and should be an important tool in the toolkit, not just a checklist item or something upon which a recruiter relies solely on feel.
Inherently, recruiting is an inexact science. And a final nod from a trusted third party — who does have real working knowledge of this candidate — feels safe, and carries a lot of value. Often, the reference is someone in a more senior or supervisory role, who has a more strategic perspective on business needs and can provide added assurance to the hiring manager.
Will you end up with a good fit through a reference without data? Sure, it’s possible. But why fly blind if you don’t have to. During that data-less conversation with a reference — Does the candidate work well with others? — and following that pre-ordained yes, of course he does answer, think about all the information you’re not getting. After all, if you have a knowledgeable call with a reference, it could well become a warm lead for next time!
