Tips on How to Effectively Research On a Job Applicant

Checking with others is not only to verify if the applicant has told the truth but to learn more about him or her. Top sources to check are former employers and credit institutions.

Using the phone in getting information about the person is an art. A written checklist should guide whoever makes the calls. Identify yourself by name, title, and name of the company. State the subject of the call. For example, "Forrest Gump who worked for you has applied to us for a similar job and given you as reference."

Help him focus on the applicant. Explain that you would like to verify some of the data the applicant gave you. Satisfy the ex-employer's suspicions, as well. If he seems reluctant to answer questions, let him call you back and reverse the charges. Let him check your number in the directory.

Ask questions from a prepared list or with the application form in front of you. Talk informally and conversationally. Ask such questions as these: What did you or others over him think of him? What did your customers think of him? Did he have any major responsibilities? Did he get along with others? What were his strong and weak points? What was his attendance record and did he work hard? Would your firm rehire him, if ever?

Listen carefully to the tone of voice, the inflections, and the words used. These things will give you clues to the company's true feelings about the applicant. Always find out if the applicant was fired or resigned, and why. Check other employers, too.

The amount of checking depends, of course, on the importance of the position being applied for. Clerking and telemarketing posts may not warrant as much time as checking out a candidate for a more demanding supervisory or managerial position. Some managers check with previous employers before the personal interview in order to secure additional valuable information to guide their questioning during the interview.

Other managers check after a face to face interview, depending on the greater knowledge derived from the interview to help them ask a former boss more pointed questions. Use the procedure that best fits the particular situation.

If the information you get by checking others shows that the applicant lacks the basic requirements or performance characteristics you require, reject him or her at this point. If there is something about the applicant that makes you want to hold him or her for the diagnostic interview and positive testing, do so. Surely you wouldn't also want to lose a potentially excellent employee by being too paranoid about the application process.