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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Price 
 
 
Question: 
 
What questions should I ask when calling to check references of a 
potential employee? 
 
Answer: 
 
When you call a former employer or a friend or a personal reference 
for a candidate, there are some questions you want to ask right out of 
the chute and that will tell you how far you can go with additional 
questions. 
 
First of all you want to confirm—if it’s a former employer—the length 
of employment. Give them the dates that are listed on the resume and 
ask the employer to confirm those.  
 
Another great question to ask a former employer would be, “Under the 
right set of circumstances, would you want to re-hire this person?” and 
they may give you a “yes” or a “no.” They might not be willing to go 
into more reasons why, but at least you’ll get a “yes” or a “no” from 
them.  
 
If they say “yes,” then you can say, “What are the strengths that 
would make you want to bring this person back on if you had the 
opportunity?”  
 
Or if they say “no,” you can ask, “Would you be comfortable sharing 
with me the reasons why you wouldn’t want to bring this person back 
on again?” 
 
 
 
When you’re talking to a personal reference it’s a little bit different, 
because this is who the candidate gave you to ask all these personal 
questions. With a personal reference, you want to ask what we call 
“behavior-based questions.” So, “Can you think of an example where 
this person who we’re considering for this job did this type of work?” 
and you describe work that’s similar to the job that you’re asking for.  
 
They may or may not be able to answer that, but that will lead you 
into a discussion where you’re thinking about two different areas. 
You’re thinking about, “What can I learn from this reference about this 
person’s competence, and what can I learn from this reference about 
this person’s character?”  
 
Those are the two things that you want to get information about. Don’t 
worry if you don’t get as much information as you would like.  
 
If you’ve got a good hiring process, this is one small piece—really, it’s 
one-ninth of the entire process—so anything that you get here is 
valuable, and it’s a part of doing your job the best way possible in 
making a good hiring decision.  
Price -2- 
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