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Crosschq Blog
Reference Check Form: A Must-Have Tool for Hiring Success with Crosschq
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Why Reference Checks Are a Game-Changer in Recruitment
In today’s talent-driven market, hiring the best starts with better insights, and Crosschq’s reference check solutions make vetting your applicants easier than ever.
In the modern landscape, a bad hire poses a big, expensive risk. But even a mediocre employee can cost you, and that’s why it’s so important to know what you’re getting when you invite a new candidate to join your company. Reference checks can lend your company a competitive edge, allowing you to build solid, high-performing teams with confidence.
And Crosschq takes the reference check to the next level. Beyond a simple yes/no phone call with their previous employer, the Crosschq solution gives you actionable insights with modern hiring intelligence, making recruiting a key business strategy like never before. Here’s how it’s done.
What is a Reference Check Form, and How Does Crosschq Modernize It?
Traditional reference check forms offer an easy, but often ineffective, method for soliciting a candidate review from their former employer. Usually, these come as a set of non-invasive questions that invite the reference to rank the candidate on a number of different factors, and sometimes elaborate on their answers. The purpose of these forms more often than not is to simply confirm statements the candidate has made about themself – where they were employed, for how long, duties, skills, etc.
They get the job done, but these forms are severely limited, both in the benefit they provide to you, as well as how they can be solicited and submitted. Manual forms can get lost or ignored, phone calls to references can be forgotten, meaning you lose out on critical insights into candidates. Not to mention administering and handling traditional forms takes time and effort that could be better spent on other things.
Crosschq eliminates the risk of human error, and makes your reference checks more impactful with tech-driven innovations like digital reference checks, automated outreach, and data-driven insights that let you get the most out of the reference interview.
Why Business Leaders Need Reference Check Forms
Reference checking has been low on the list of priorities for far too long. Given the difficulties associated with traditional reference checks, it’s not hard to see why. But a modern reference check form offers business leaders modern advantages that allow them to drive broader business goals through recruiting. Let’s talk about it.
Make Confident Hiring Decisions
Crosschq’s reference check solution allows you to more easily verify candidate skills and credentials, with precision.
Improve Hiring Compliance
Crosschq’s platform ensures your forms will always meet legal and ethical standards by automatically updating them to reflect current laws and regulations.
Save Time and Scale Effectively
Automated reference check forms streamline the process for growing teams, freeing up recruiting pros to focus on bigger-picture tasks.
The Anatomy of a Modern Reference Check Form with Crosschq
The crucial sections within your reference check form will remain essentially the same. These include:
- Candidate and referee details.
This section should solicit standard information such as where the candidate worked, for how long, the role they held, and the reference’s relationship to them.
- Skills and experience validation.
In this section, invite the reference to discuss the candidate’s skills, attributes, competencies, and work experience. This should both confirm and elaborate on the answers the candidate has themself given.
- Soft skills and cultural fit assessments.
In this section, invite the reference to discuss the candidate’s ability to function as part of a team, their emotional intelligence, ability to incorporate feedback, navigate conflict, etc.
All of these points should give you a deeper insight into your candidate. Crosschq takes the process one step further by incorporating machine learning to help you hone your reference checks to a razor-sharpness. Supported by AI, your team can:
- Discover similarities between your most successful candidate’s reference checks
- Understand which questions on your form have the greatest impact on future employee success
- Strategize actual employee experience to bolster your business’ future
- And more.
Customizing Reference Check Forms for Different Hiring Needs
There’s no one-size-fits-all reference check form, even with AI on the team. It’s important to tailor your reference checks to your unique industry, as well as the roles for which you are hiring. Different positions, such as healthcare, tech, finance, etc. may emphasize different skillsets or levels of education, and your reference check form should help you gain the right insights you need to make an advantageous hiring decision.
This also applies to different use-cases within a company: reference checks for leadership, entry-level, and technical positions will all look a little bit different from one another.
Crosschq supports as many use cases as you have, and lets you customize your reference check forms to suit the needs of your vertical with a flexible platform.
Avoid These Common Reference Check Mistakes
Making errors within the reference check process means we lose out on critical data from reference checks. This can look like:
- Relying on outdated forms or inconsistent questions. Make sure you’re asking questions that will yield actionable results, and update your questionnaires to reflect current needs and values.
- Missing critical insights due to poor reference selection. References are not legally obligated to give thorough answers on a reference check, or give any answers at all. In some cases, the candidate may have falsified their reference to bolster their chances.
Crosschq reference checks minimize the damage done by these pitfalls with real-time feedback, verified references, and machine learning that helps you keep your questionnaires up-to-date and effective.
Crosschq: The Digital Solution to Reference Check Challenges
Let’s dive a little deeper into what Crosschq has to offer.
Offering an innovative platform, Crosschq uses automated reference forms for a faster turnaround and easier tracking of reference answers. Digital forms are also easily incorporated into your data cache, making it easier to perform business-driving analytics on the insights you gain.
And, the analytics and reporting features lets your team uncover invaluable hiring intelligence, empowering you to continuously improve recruiting, team performance, and business performance at large.
Integrating Crosschq with your ATS and other HR tools gives you an additional leg up – there’s no need to transfer old data into a new program. The Crosschq platform can handle any existing data, letting you bring all your existing insights with you into the new stage of your recruiting strategy.
Exclusive Resource: Reference Check Form Template by Crosschq
As a bonus, Crosschq has designed our very own reference check template to help get you started.
This form is fully customizable, legally compliant, and user-friendly. Unique features include pre-built sections based on Crosschq’s expertise, and an editable format for business specific needs so you can update as you go.
Click here to learn more.
Conclusion: Smarter Hiring Starts with Crosschq
The modern business landscape calls for smarter hiring decisions – and that’s exactly what Crosschq does. Engaging our fully-customizable reference check form is just the first step business leaders can take towards better recruitment. Backed by machine learning, our hiring intelligence platform makes it easy to find and hire the talent you need to drive your business forward.
Ready to revolutionize your hiring process? Download our free reference check form and discover how Crosschq can transform your talent acquisition strategy.
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