This week, I had a chance to call references for a candidate who is on track to join our team. I really enjoy these calls because I get to learn on a few different levels.
I get to learn about the candidate from people who have worked with them! I always assume they’ll say nice things, though I have been surprised before. Reference calls often help add context to information and behaviors that we discovered during candidate interviews. And of course everyone has weaknesses, so with good questions (that I stole from someone on the internet) we can sometimes speak openly about those.
There’s also “metadata” to learn from. Who from their network did the candidate choose to provide as references? Who was left out? How quickly do references respond to my note asking for a call? How do they describe their relationship with the candidate?
Finally, and most broadly, I get a view into how other companies and teams operate. You’ve probably heard “you have to see it to be it” in reference to personal role models. I think it’s also applicable to organizations. We are by default limited by our personal set of experiences. For example, those who have only ever worked at one firm have usually only seen one way of doing things. So I take these opportunities to learn as much as I can about how other companies do things like structure teams, processes, and goals.