The trouble with ‘informal referencing’.

When hiring an employee, we typically imagine that the decision to hire (or not hire) them would be based on their experience and skillset. So with this in mind, why is it that ‘informal referencing’ has become such common practice within the recruitment industry? Why are so many potential employers relying on the ‘he said, she said’ rather than interviewing candidates face to face and assessing them as professionals?

Informal Referencing is when a potential employer passes a candidate’s name around the departments and decides whether or not to continue with the recruitment process based on feedback. It’s hard to believe that employers these days, a time so obsessed with equality, will judge a candidate’s employability solely on what they’ve heard and not what they have read or learned for themselves.

Setting aside the fact that informal referencing is against RCSA guidelines, it’s the sneakiness of the whole process that I find most perplexing. As a recruiter, I always want to be as clear and honest with my candidates as possible. The typical response from the Hiring Manager is “Sorry, this candidate is a no due to our background information on the candidate’s behaviour, skills and experience.” The client cannot provide me with a more detailed reason, of course. However, it’s extremely difficult to give my candidate clear, honest feedback on their progression in the recruitment process and how they can improve for next time when they have only made it to the informal referencing stage and been judged on their name alone.

I feel deeply for these candidates, who not only lose their right to privacy (because in this small industry, a candidate’s employer can easily be notified when names are being passed around), but also miss out on great opportunities without so much as a phone screening, interview or proper reference check.

Another element that I feel needs addressing is the seniority level of the informal referees themselves. I have recently had a very strong senior candidate rejected before any formal interview/referencing was carried out and this was all down to negative feedback from a subordinate member of staff. Referencing is carried out by colleagues in a superior role for a reason and subordinate referees would certainly not be accepted by any employer for formal referencing; why do they look past this crucial requirement for informal referencing? 

It’s worth noting that candidates give their written permission for referees to be contacted by a potential employer, but not for their name and details to be passed around departments.

To those of you reading who regularly use informal referencing to determine the employability of a candidate, ask yourself something: How you would feel being judged solely by others’ opinions of you and not for your professional capacity for the role? Would you want to work for an organisation that uses unverifiable Chinese whispers as a base for hiring?

By all means take what your colleagues say into consideration, but at least give the candidate a fair shot at what could potentially be their dream job.

Take care.

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