{"id":5022,"date":"2026-07-30T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T05:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/?p=5022"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:41:41","slug":"referenstagning-inte-en-formalitet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/referenstagning-inte-en-formalitet\/","title":{"rendered":"Reference checks are not a formality."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It is one of the steps in the recruitment process that is carried out most perfunctorily.
You call the referee, ask the standard questions, note the answers and confirm what you already think you know.
It is a significant opportunity being wasted.


What reference checks actually are<\/strong>
Det \u00e4r din sista chans att verifiera det du tror att du vet om en kandidat<\/a>. Och att avsl\u00f6ja det du inte visste. En bra referenstagning \u00e4r inte en bekr\u00e4ftelsekontroll. Det \u00e4r en unders\u00f6kning. Och den som ringer med nyfikenhet \u2013 snarare \u00e4n med f\u00f6rv\u00e4ntan \u2013 f\u00e5r mycket mer information.


Three questions I always ask<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Tell me about a time when X faced a difficult situation. What happened, and how did they handle it?<\/strong>
    It is the question that reveals the most. Not because the answer is always unfavorable \u2014 but because it reveals how the person functions under pressure, in adversity and when reality does not match the plan.
    A reference who cannot give a concrete example is worth being curious about. Either the person has never found things difficult \u2014 which is unlikely \u2014 or the reference is choosing their words carefully.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. If you were hiring X again, would you? Under what circumstances?<\/strong>
    That question puts the referee in a position where they need to be more specific than 'they were great'.
    The answer \u2014 and especially the nuances in the answer \u2014 gives you valuable information.
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Is there anything I have not asked about that you think I should know?<\/strong>
    The open ending. It gives the referee the opportunity to share information that might be important but that your specific questions did not cover.

    Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes a great deal does.
    <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    One final point about reference selection<\/strong>
    Do not let the candidate decide alone who should be contacted. Ask for references from specific types of relationships \u2014 previous managers, colleagues, and perhaps direct reports, if relevant to the role.

    And if a candidate is reluctant to provide references from their most recent employers \u2014 ask why.

    If you have thoughts, questions, or simply want to talk something through \u2014 feel free to get in touch. I am happy to have an initial conversation with no agenda.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Magdalena Hagstr\u00f6m St\u00e5hl
    By M Consulting AB<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Right person. Right place. Everything changes.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Reference checks are often treated as a formality. That's a mistake. It's your last chance to verify what you think you know \u2013 and uncover what you didn't.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rekrytering","category-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5022"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5252,"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5022\/revisions\/5252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bymconsulting.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}