She Doesn’t Want Me To Call Her References

Hi Danny,
I tell all my candidates we check references before we present them. I finished up a phone screen today and asked the candidate to fill out our reference release form so we could get reference information so we can present her. She barely filled out the form and then said please call her BEFORE anyone is contacted. And, she is not in a position to give any of her supervisors from any of her companies.
How to I tell her I can not represent her if she can not provide references?

Danny’s response:
Time to draw the line in the sand. Here is what I would say:

“Let me explain to you the nature of my relationship with my clients. They pay me to not only find, but to evaluate potential candidates. Part of that evaluation process is to:

1.    Determine if the candidate indeed has the credentials they claim to have

2.    Determine if the candidate is serious about making a job change, so the client’s time is not wasted.

If you cannot supply references, you are essentially saying to the client you are hiding something in your background or you do not have any intention of leaving so you don’t want anyone you know to get the wrong impression. If you cannot meet the submittal criteria clients expect, you will never be able to make a move. Its not that I’m trying to be inflexible, it’s that clients will not interview you without the information. What are your thoughts?”

Your candidate is waving a red flag. There is an issue here. If upon being reassured that confidentiality is assured, that by law we can only check references you give us, and that you don’t expect a perfect reference, just an honest one, your candidate does not acquiesce, it’s because they have some other agenda. Let them go. (But first ask for referrals.)

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