Today’s question came from a busy professional.
Should you hire someone with a bad reference?
I interviewed two candidates recently. One of the candidates really out shined the other. This person was quick to answer all my questions intelligently, seemed really passionate about the role and had the right amount of experience. However, when I followed up with their references, one of the former employees described the candidate as undependable. Capability and dependability are very important for this role. Would you still hire this person despite the bad reference?
First, I want to congratulate you for following through on checking the references. Many do not take the time, because they assume that the candidate would not include someone that would provide a negative review. But, as you see, that is not always the case. Depending upon the current job position and circumstance, you can find out some interesting things.
How much weight do you place on a bad reference?
If you talked to five people and only one reference was negative, then I would not necessarily shut the door on this person. Everyone’s tolerance level is different.
Capability and dependability is very important in most roles. No one goes out of their way to hire an unskilled and unreliable employee. But there are also different interpretations of these traits.
For instance, that reference may have expected your candidate to decide X and your candidate did Y instead. Y may have even been the right solution. But because it didn’t match the reference’s expectations – the candidate is considered undependable or not capable. That reference may also be the type of person that “never gives anyone an A” (we’ve all had professors like that).
If this was just one reference out of 5, then consider that it’s more about that reference (that person) versus your candidate. The reference could also be having a terrible day and just doesn’t like anything or anyone that day. It’s difficult to say.
If you don’t personally know the reference – then their opinion should not carry more weight than anyone else’s. And there is nothing wrong with calling back the other references to explicitly ask about your concerns.
What if I only have two references: one is positive and one is negative?
Get additional input from people not on the reference sheet. Ask other people from that company; take a look at the candidate’s Linkedin profile, Facebook, their websites and online reputation. Check into the professional groups the candidate participate in, etc. With today’s technology, there are many ways to find out about the candidate’s working relationships.
Trial Period:
Remember – you initially enjoyed the person in the interview. But it’s very difficult to foresee how this person will fit into your work culture after just a few hours. So, there’s nothing wrong with setting the expectations of a 3 month trial or probation period. This strategy is very useful if there is a discrepancy in salary requests.
For instance, if the candidate is requesting 20% increase in salary, you can discuss a 3 or 6 month trial period at your initial salary (with the understanding that you will re-evaluate salary at the end of the trial period). This gives you the opportunity to see if the performance is worthy of the increase. And it appeases their anxiety because they are assured that you are listening to their request.
Keep your eyes open
At the end of the day, keep your eyes open. Now that you have been made aware of a possible issue, avoid giving them substantial responsibilities at the start. Continue to ramp them up until you fully trust they capabilities, especially if they will be dealing directly with clients.
For additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ