I regularly get asked to give references for former colleagues who have moved on to other career opportunities. Most of the reference check calls are pretty perfunctory, but today I got asked a great question: "What skills do you think we should help [name] improve on here if we hire them?" I can see immediately that it's a great positive way to ask about shortcomings, but also a great way so show support for career growth if you want to emphasize that. In this case, it would be their first direct line management position, so I emphasized their readiness for a management role and how the company could support that. And now I have a new question to ask when I call to check references!
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3 Comments
3 Comments
Krista Skalde
93
HR / Talent / Human Capital Executive
10/30/20 at 2:43AM UTC
Agreed, this is a great reference call question!
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Reply
Jana F.
30
Higher Ed & Student Affairs Pro in SoCal
10/30/20 at 10:06PM UTC
I'm going to add this to my list! This is a great way to get gain insight that's not the "can you share their areas of growth?"
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Reply
Anonymous
11/16/20 at 1:51AM UTC
Oh this is a good question, thank you!
Reply
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