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4.3 Guidelines for Taking Telephone Ref
4.3 GUIDELINES FOR TAKING TELEPHONE REFERENCES
First, send out the standard email requesting references which the Chair of the Short List
Committee will forward to you. Some referees prefer to provide their reference by phone.
If so, the following guidelines may be of help to you.
Introduction to Referee
Explain that:
 You are a member of the Short List Committee for a managerial position for which the
candidate is being considered.
 Comments will not be attributed to referee; only themes reported by two or more references
will be reported to Committee.
 You are contacting several supervisors, peers and subordinates of the candidate to get their
perceptions, based on their first-hand experience, of the candidate’s technical and people
management skills.
 Confirm that they have had recent direct interaction with the candidate (to ensure that this is
someone who can provide a useful assessment based on first-hand experience).
 Your questions are standard and will cover technical/professional skills as well as essential
people-management skills.
 Their assessment will not be attributed to them personally and will be used by the Short List
Committee as one of several sources of input.
 We expect referees to keep their conversation with us confidential.
 We are gathering information from many sources and themes and patterns across the
references will be part of the summary reference.
Telephone Interview
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Telephone appointments
Begin by asking about the candidate’s professional/technical strengths and areas for
development.
Ask additional technical questions, based on the position specific criteria.
Proceed to questions about the essential people management criteria and finally the
candidate’s overall managerial strengths and development areas.
Ask whether there anything else that they think the Short List Committee should take into
account in assessing the candidate’s technical and/or managerial skills.
Ensure the last question is answered, i.e. do you recommend the person for the job.
Thank them for helping to make the short listing process fair and objective and remind them
of the need for confidentiality.
Do’s/Don’ts
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Do keep referees comments/opinions as behavioral as possible - avoid generalizations
Do cover all the criteria
Do keep thorough notes
Don’t ask leading questions
Don’t inadvertently give out confidential information
Documentation
We suggest use of the attached form for capturing referee comments for your report back to the
Committee. (4.3.1 Managerial Reference Check Form)
January 2008