MANAGEMENT
ernest f. oriente | the coach, power hour
How Necessary are Resume
References?
A
ccording to the Society of Human Resource Management {SHRM} over 50
percent of the information presented
on a resume by a job candidate may be
false or misleading. These are alarming statistics,
and as the executive of your property management
company, it continues to be increasingly important
to understand the mindset of the job candidates
that are applying for positions within your company. This article will help you and your company
strengthen your reference checking process and
eliminate those who will not be a perfect fit, long
before a position is ever offered.
SOME REFERENCE CHECKING
STATISTICS
A recent SHRM survey at www.shrm.org was
sent to 2,640 human resource members regarding
reference checking. The survey concluded that job
candidates frequently present misleading information about their length of stay with former organizations, their past/current salary levels and their
college credentials. More specifically, 53 percent
of companies involved in this survey discovered
falsified information about length of employment
from job candidates and 51 percent discovered
falsified information about past salaries. In addition, 61 percent of job candidates falsify their college credentials, a credential that can be easily
researched during the reference checking process.
Tip From The Coach: Based on the above
survey information, conducting thorough
reference checks must continue to be an important step in the selection and interview
process of hiring SuperStars for your property management company.
DEVELOPING A
REFERENCE
CHECKING
PROCESS
for how reference checks fit into your interview
process. With some of our property management
clients, their human resource department handles
this important step before a formal job offer is
made. With other property management clients,
all hiring executives handle their own reference
checks, based on the specific level of position being
offered or the compensation range being presented. As for references, three or more business references should be supplied by a job candidate as
early in the interview process as possible. We
highly recommend asking for references early in
the interview process because this will give your
hiring executives additional time to contact each
organization submitted by a job candidate. This
also means that your hiring executives will not be
rushed to do reference checks in the final hours
before making a job offer. This makes for a more
thorough and complete reference checking process.
Tip From The Coach: In addition to reference
checks, many property management companies are now
asking permission to do background checks, credit checks
and criminal checks as part of their hiring process.
Based on the SHRM survey statistics above and your
own professional experience, have you recently reviewed
your reference checking process? This process will help
to link talented SuperStars to compatible positions
within your property management company and will
reduce the chances of hiring low performers.
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN
CALLING A REFERENCE
It has been our experience that all of our property management clients want to create their own
custom reference checking form. Here are some
sample questions to get you started with yours:
How would you characterize his/her success with
your company? How would you characterize his/
her energy level? How was this person viewed by
his/her peers? Describe the types of decisions this
person made on a daily basis? How did this person
manage their time? Tell me about a d