Background Screening | Should You Be a Job Reference? Pt. 2
Background Screening | Because employers increasingly recognize the powerful need for the right soft skills on the job, the reference check is being elevated in the hiring hierarchy. This means that you are likely to both need job references more frequently in the future – and that you will be called upon to provide references more frequently as well.
It’s also important to point out that many states have rewritten the laws that protect references when they provide candid feedback. This is another reason why it’s easier for references to reassert their central role in the recruiting and hiring process.
Even though serving as a job reference can take some extra time that you may not have – do it. You will be doing a valuable service for the person for whom you’re providing a reference, and potentially setting yourself up for reciprocal reference support down the road.
And by the way, giving references is going to get easier and easier because …
Technology Is Making the Job Reference and the Background Screening Experience Smoother, Better and More Candid
Job references fell by the wayside for many employers because of the limitations of reaching references by phone. References were often hard to contact and frequently felt constrained in what they could share because of human resources rules laid down by their current employers, suggesting that they shouldn’t provide any information beyond confirming dates of employment and other basic facts.
This has now changed dramatically. The next time you’re asked to be a job reference, it very likely could be through an online portal (perhaps even accessed from a mobile device) that ensures confidentiality. The emergence of online reference checking has opened up a whole new frontier for obtaining honest and detailed reference feedback.
This growing trend – plus the increasing desire by employers to better ascertain soft skills and past worker performance (since employers know that past performance is the best indicator of future results) – are coming together to bring reference checking back to the forefront of the job searching and hiring process. Be ready – this is another reason why you’re going to be needing more references in the future and will be asked to give more of them, as well.
The bottom line: Make time to give job references when you’re asked. It’s a better process than ever and for all the reasons outlined above, you’ll be glad you did. –US News
Learn what ESA can do for you! Call 866-830-3724 to discuss background screening services or complete the form on www.esascreening.com now!