Questions to Ask References
For a hiring manager or recruiter about to call a job candidate's references. The questions follow the order of the call: confirming the facts, performance, working with others, reliability, growth areas and closing. Each has a note on what a strong or lukewarm answer sounds like, and where a reference may not be allowed to say more. It describes common practice and is not legal advice: what you may ask varies by place and employer.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Confirming the facts
What was your working relationship with the candidate, and how closely did you see their work?
Why ask it
How much weight the rest of the call deserves depends on this answer. A direct manager of two years saw the work every week, while a peer on another team or a friend at the same company can only give impressions, so weigh what follows accordingly.
Can you confirm their job title and the dates they worked there?
Why ask it
Check both against the resume while you are still on the line. A month or two out is usually memory, but a different title or a missing year is something to raise with the candidate before you conclude anything.
What were they responsible for day to day?
Why ask it
Let the reference describe the job before you read out the resume's version. If the candidate wrote 'managed the budget' and the reference describes someone who prepared reports for the person who did, you have found the gap without accusing anyone.
What was their reason for leaving, as you understood it?
Why ask it
Compare it with what the candidate told you. The two accounts need not match word for word, but they should describe the same event. If the reference will not say, ask whether that is a rule for all former staff.
Does your company list them as eligible for rehire?
Why ask it
Rehire eligibility is often a recorded status, and one of the few things a reference bound by policy may still confirm. Not every employer tracks it, so 'I don't know' is an ordinary answer, and a no is a reason to ask the candidate about it directly.
Is there anything your company's policy stops you from discussing, so I know what to leave alone?
Why ask it
Many employers limit references to dates and title, or send every call to HR. Asking in the first few minutes tells you whether a short answer later is policy or reluctance, and it stops you reading a rule as a warning.
They told us they led a particular project. Is that how you remember their part in it?
Why ask it
Name the biggest claim from the interviews, the one the hiring decision leans on. 'Yes, that was theirs' settles it. 'They were certainly involved' is a polite correction, and worth a follow-up on who else was on it.
How large was the team, and how senior were they within it?
Why ask it
Titles mean different things at different sizes of company. A senior analyst on a team of three and one on a team of forty did different jobs, and this tells you which one you are hiring.
Did their role change while they were with you?
Why ask it
A promotion or added scope is praise that cost the employer something, which makes it harder to hand out than a kind word. If the role narrowed or moved sideways, ask what led to it and listen to how easily the answer comes.
Performance
What would you say are their greatest strengths?
Why ask it
Write down the first one they name, because it is usually the trait they would miss most. Then ask where they saw it, and hold it against your job: a gift for calming upset customers counts for little in a role with no customers.
How did the quality of their work compare with others you have managed in the same role?
Why ask it
A comparison forces a ranking where a general question gets an adjective. 'Among the best I've had' needs no decoding. 'Solid', 'fine' and 'met expectations' usually describe the middle of the group.
What is the best piece of work you saw them do?
Why ask it
Someone who rated the candidate highly usually has an example ready within seconds. A long pause followed by something general, like always being dependable, suggests there was no standout, which matters more for a senior hire than a junior one.
What did they do that someone else in the same seat would not have?
Why ask it
This separates a person who filled the role from one who shaped it. Listen for something concrete: a client they kept, a problem they noticed first. If nothing comes, you are probably hearing about a capable average performer.
How strong were they at the skill this role depends on most?
Why ask it
Name the skill before you ask: closing a sale, writing SQL, running a shift. Then ask how the reference knows, because 'very strong' from someone who watched them do it weekly is worth more than the same words from someone who only saw the results. If the reference never saw that skill in use, write that down and find someone who did.
How would you describe their work ethic?
Why ask it
The phrase invites 'hard-working', so ask at once what that looked like in a normal week. Effort that showed up as finished work is what you are after. Long hours alone can mean dedication or a workload that did not fit, and the reference can usually tell you which.
Here is what the job will ask of them in the first six months. Which part would come easily, and which would stretch them?
Why ask it
Describe your role in two sentences first. Predicting is more comfortable for a reference than judging, so the 'stretch' half often produces the reservation they would not have volunteered. Ask what help would close that gap.
How much direction did they need to get started on something new?
Why ask it
Neither answer is bad on its own. Set it against the job: if nobody will have time to brief them closely, 'did best with a clear plan' is a real concern, and if the role is tightly defined it is not.
Can you tell me about a hard problem they solved, and how they went about it?
Why ask it
The how is the half that carries over to your job. Listen for whether they gathered facts, tried something small first or went straight to the boss for the answer. If your role comes with few instructions, a person who needed the solution handed over will take more of your time than you may have.
How did they manage their time when several things were due at once?
Why ask it
'Very organized' is easy to say, so ask about a week when two things were due the same day. You want to hear that they picked one, said which and why, and told whoever was waiting on the other. Quietly doing the easier task first is the habit to listen for.
What happened when one of their deadlines was at risk?
Why ask it
The useful detail is when the manager found out. Early warning with a revised plan is what you want. If they heard on the due date, or from someone else, ask whether that happened once or was the usual way.
How accurate was their work when nobody was checking it?
Why ask it
Ask this for any role with numbers, contracts, code or records. 'I stopped reviewing it after a few months' is high praise. 'It was fine once it had been looked over' means someone was doing the looking, and in your team that would be you.
How was their written work: emails, reports, documentation?
Why ask it
A manager has read a great deal of the candidate's writing and can answer this precisely. Ask whether anything had to be rewritten before it went to a client or a senior leader, which is the practical test.
How quickly did they pick up a new system, tool or process?
Why ask it
Ask for the last thing they had to learn from scratch and how long it was before they stopped needing help with it. It matters most when your tools differ from the ones on the resume. A reference who says the candidate ended up training everyone else has told you more than you asked.
Can you tell me about a mistake they made and what they did next?
Why ask it
A manager who worked with the candidate for a year has probably seen one. You are listening for the second half: whether they raised it themselves, fixed it and told the people affected. If none comes to mind, ask how often they reviewed the work: they may not have been near enough to see one.
How did they do on the dull, repetitive parts of the job?
Why ask it
Interviews are about the interesting work, and most roles are partly routine: timesheets, filing, the weekly report. Ask what happened to those in a busy month. Slipping standards on routine tasks are something to plan around, and seldom a reason to reject.
Did they change how anything was done while they were there?
Why ask it
A template, a checklist, a handover the team still uses: these show someone who thought about the work beyond their own tasks. If the role you are filling is about keeping a steady process running, a no here is perfectly acceptable.
How did their performance change over the time you worked together?
Why ask it
The direction matters as much as the level. 'Slow first six months, then excellent' tells you to be patient with onboarding. 'Started strong and leveled off' is worth a follow-up on what changed, since the cause may have been the job and not the person.
Working with others
How did they get along with the people they worked with most closely?
Why ask it
'Got along with everyone' is the default answer and tells you little. Follow it by asking who chose to work with them again. People being picked for the next project is evidence; general pleasantness is not.
How would you describe their communication skills?
Why ask it
Split it in two for the reference: how clearly they explained things, and how well they listened. Plenty of people are strong at only one. Then ask whether the manager was kept informed or had to go looking for updates.
Did they do their best work alone or as part of a team?
Why ask it
'Both' is the easy answer, so ask which the reference would have chosen for them when the result really mattered. Set that against the real shape of your job and not the advert: a role described as collaborative can turn out to be solo work with a weekly meeting.
Who on the team did they work best with, and who did they find harder?
Why ask it
You are asking about types, not names, and it helps to say so. If the candidate struggled with blunt colleagues, or with people who missed deadlines, compare that with the team they would be joining. If the reference says there was nobody they found harder, ask which kind of colleague they would not pair them with on a tight deadline.
How did they handle a disagreement with you or with a colleague?
Why ask it
Ask for one specific occasion. What you want to hear is how they argued: with evidence or with volume, in the meeting or in the hallway afterwards. A reference who cannot recall a single disagreement in years of working together was probably not close to the candidate's daily work.
How did they take it when a decision went against them?
Why ask it
This is about the weeks after the argument was lost. Listen for whether they carried out the decision properly or kept reopening it. A reference who laughs and says 'they let me know' is describing something manageable.
How did they behave in meetings: speak up, hold back, or take over?
Why ask it
Giving three options makes it easy to pick one without it sounding like criticism. None is wrong in itself. A quiet contributor may be fine in a small team and lost in a large one, so match the answer to your meetings.
How did they treat people junior to them or outside the team?
Why ask it
A manager mostly sees how someone behaves upward. Ask what they heard from support staff, newer colleagues or other departments. Rudeness to people with less power tends to reach a manager eventually, so a clear 'never heard a complaint' means something.
What kind of manager got the best out of them?
Why ask it
The answer is an instruction to you personally. 'Give them room' and 'check in often' describe different people, and you may manage one of them better than the other. Be honest about which kind of manager you are before you decide the answer is good news.
What kept them motivated, and what wore them down?
Why ask it
Ask for both halves: the first comes easily and the second is the one you need. If what wore the candidate down is a large part of your role, such as constant interruptions or long solo projects, raise it with the candidate honestly before an offer.
If they managed people, how did their team do under them?
Why ask it
Skip it for anyone who has not managed. Otherwise ask who they developed and whether people stayed. A manager's manager sees results more than daily behavior, so for a leadership hire try to speak to someone who reported to the candidate as well.
How did they deal with customers or clients, if they had contact with them?
Why ask it
Ask whether clients asked for them by name, or whether a relationship ever had to be handed to someone else. Both happen, and the reference will remember either without effort.
Did other people go to them for help, and with what?
Why ask it
Being the person colleagues go to is a status nobody can assign. The 'with what' matters: help with a system is expertise, help with a difficult conversation is judgment, and you may need one more than the other.
When a project went well, how did they talk about who had done what?
Why ask it
Use it to check the interview from the other side. A candidate who said 'I' throughout may be accurate or may be generous to themselves. A reference who remembers them naming the people who helped is describing someone colleagues want on the next project, and one who remembers people feeling overlooked has given you something to set beside the claims you heard.
Reliability
Could you count on them to do what they said they would, when they said they would?
Why ask it
A reference with no doubts tends to answer before you finish the sentence. Listen for conditions: 'yes, once the priorities were clear' or 'mostly' are answers with a story behind them, and it is fair to ask for it.
How did they handle pressure or a stressful stretch at work?
Why ask it
Ask for a particular period: a launch, a quarter end, a month when the team was short-staffed. What the reference saw is the useful part, whether that was sharper focus, a shorter temper or silence. Keep it to behavior at work and leave health out of it, as you would with the candidate.
Were there any concerns about punctuality or attendance that affected the work?
Why ask it
Ask only about the effect on the work. Do not ask why someone was absent: the reasons can involve health or family, which you should not collect from a reference any more than from the candidate. If the reference starts to volunteer them, move on.
How did they handle confidential or sensitive information?
Why ask it
Worth asking for any role with access to pay data, client files, patient records or unreleased plans. A specific example of discretion is reassuring. A hedge here deserves one direct follow-up: what prompted it?
Did you ever have reason to doubt something they told you?
Why ask it
Most references say no at once, and that quick no is the reassurance you wanted. A pause, or 'not about anything important', needs one calm follow-up: what happened? Then give the candidate a chance to tell their side.
Was there a formal warning, a performance plan or a complaint that you are able to tell me about?
Why ask it
Whether you may ask about disciplinary records depends on where you are hiring, so clear this question with HR first. Many references are not permitted to answer it, which means 'I can't discuss that' is not a yes. Ask once, plainly, and accept the answer: pressing puts the reference in a difficult position and gains you nothing reliable.
How did they work when you were not around: remote days, travel, a different shift?
Why ask it
If your role is remote or lightly supervised, this is the closest evidence you will get. Ask how the manager knew work was on track. 'I never had to wonder' is the phrase to hope for.
When they had too much on their plate, how did you find out?
Why ask it
Some people say so, some go quiet and let things slip, and some work late until they burn out. None of these rules a person out, but each tells you what to watch for in their first busy month.
Growth areas
What is one thing they were still working on when they left?
Why ask it
'Still working on' is easier to answer than 'weakness', so more references do. If a manager of two years says nothing comes to mind, push once: ask what would have been on their development plan. A second blank is evasion or distance, and you should note which you think it is.
What came up in their reviews as something to improve?
Why ask it
Reviews are a written record, so a manager who wrote them can be specific: a named skill, a goal that carried over from one year to the next. Some employers treat review content as confidential, so accept a refusal. The candidate may be willing to share a recent review themselves.
Can you think of a time they changed how they worked after you raised something?
Why ask it
Nearly every reference will say the candidate takes feedback well. What matters is whether anything changed afterwards. Ask what was raised and how long the change took to stick, and whether the same issue came back.
What kind of work or environment would be a poor fit for them?
Why ask it
Compare the answer honestly with what you offer. If they say 'somewhere chaotic' and you are a twelve-person startup, that is a conversation to have with the candidate, not a reason to drop them unheard. An answer that describes no real workplace, such as 'anywhere that doesn't value them', is a polite refusal to answer.
Was there a skill they set out to build while they were with you, and how far did they get?
Why ask it
A course finished, a system learned in their own time, a move toward work they found hard: ask what it was and whether it showed up in the work afterwards. 'Not that I noticed' is an ordinary answer for someone settled in a role. It matters only if your job expects them to grow into it quickly.
Is there a level of responsibility you think they are not ready for yet?
Why ask it
Ask it when your role is a step up from the one the reference saw. 'They were already doing parts of that job' is a strong signal. Hesitation is not a no, but ask what they would want to see first.
On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate them, and what would have made it a ten?
Why ask it
People rarely give a stranger a low number about a former colleague, so the scale runs high: in practice a seven is often lukewarm and an eight an ordinary good reference. The second half is the real question, because whatever is missing from ten is the growth area.
Did anything hold them back from a promotion or a bigger role with you?
Why ask it
Often the honest answer is that there was no opening, which is fine and fits a common reason for leaving. If the answer is about the candidate, such as needing more experience with clients, you have a growth area in the manager's own words.
Closing
If you had an opening on your team tomorrow, would you hire them back?
Why ask it
Listen to the speed as much as the words. 'In a heartbeat' leaves nothing to interpret, while 'for the right role' or 'it would depend' is a hedge, so ask what it would depend on.
If they asked you to join a team they were building, would you?
Why ask it
Best for a peer or a former direct report, who cannot speak to rehiring but can say whether they would choose this person again. A yes with a reason attached counts for a lot.
Knowing what this job involves, would you recommend them for it without reservation?
Why ask it
Save it for late in the call, once the reference has heard enough about the role to answer for this job and not for jobs in general. 'Without reservation' is deliberate: a reference who has one will often repeat the phrase and add 'well, one thing'. A plain 'yes, I would' with nothing after it is worth writing down word for word.
What advice would you give me as their next manager?
Why ask it
It assumes the hire, which lets the reference be helpful instead of careful, and the answers turn practical: put requests in writing, check in on Fridays, do not leave them idle. Each tip is also a quiet account of what went less well when nobody did that.
What surprised you about them once you had worked together for a while?
Why ask it
It gets past the first impression, which is all your interviews have given you. Pleasant surprises tell you what the candidate undersells. An unwelcome one, even told lightly, is something the reference chose to mention when they could have picked anything.
Is there someone who saw a different side of their work, such as a peer or someone they managed?
Why ask it
A second angle is worth having for a senior hire, but go through the candidate before you call anyone the reference names. An unannounced call can expose a job search to people who did not know about it, and privacy rules in some places restrict it.
What should I have asked you that I did not?
Why ask it
References often hold one thing back because no question fitted it. Ask, then wait through the silence. Whatever comes after 'well, the only thing I'd say is' is frequently the most useful sentence of the call.
May I call you back if something comes up later in the process?
Why ask it
It keeps the door open if a later reference contradicts this one. Some people also say more on a second, shorter call, once they have had a day to think about what they left out.
How to run a reference call
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you pick up the phone
Tell the candidate first
Say when you plan to call and ask whether each reference knows to expect you. Some employers, and the rules in some places, require the candidate's written consent before anyone is contacted, so find out what applies to you. Never contact a current employer without the candidate's explicit agreement: it can cost them the job they still have, and many candidates will ask you to wait until an offer is on the table.
Ask for a recent manager
The most useful reference supervised the candidate directly in the last few years. Peers and people the candidate managed add a different angle. If the list is all peers and friends, ask for a former manager, and ask plainly why if none is offered. There is often a fair reason, such as a company rule against giving references.
Use the same core questions for every finalist
Pick eight to ten questions from this list, at least one from each stage, and put them to every reference for every finalist. It lets you compare like with like and keeps the process even-handed. Add follow-ups specific to the role freely.
Open by describing the job
Check they have fifteen minutes, then give two sentences on the role and what matters most in it. A reference who knows what the job needs gives specific answers. One who does not will give you a character sketch.
How to hear a lukewarm reference
Praise with detail, praise without
A strong reference volunteers examples, names the projects and sounds pleased to be asked. A lukewarm one stays with adjectives: reliable, pleasant, hard-working, did what was asked. None of those words is negative, and that is the point. Few people will criticize a former colleague to a stranger, so faint praise is how a reservation usually arrives.
The pause and the qualifier
Notice a silence before an answer that should be easy, and the small phrases that follow it: for the most part, in the right environment, once they settled in, with the right support. Each one marks a place for a gentle follow-up such as 'what did that look like?'
The answer to a different question
You ask about quality of work and hear about punctuality. You ask about teamwork and hear that they were always professional. When a reference keeps moving to safer ground, write down which subject they left.
One cool call is not a verdict
A reference may be distracted, cautious by temperament, bound by policy or carrying a personal grudge. Look for the same reservation from two people before you act on it, and take it back to the candidate, who may have a reasonable account of it.
No call back
An unreturned message usually means a busy person or an out-of-date number. Try twice, then ask the candidate for another way to reach them or another name. Only repeated silence from several references starts to mean something.
What a reference may not be able to say
Dates and title only
Many employers tell managers to confirm employment dates and job title and nothing more, or to pass every request to HR. That is a company protecting itself and says nothing about the candidate. Ask the candidate for a manager who has since left that employer, or whether they would share a recent performance review.
Questions that are off limits for you
As a working rule, do not ask a reference anything you would not ask the candidate: age, health or disability, pregnancy, family plans, religion, national origin and similar personal matters. The same goes for the reasons behind any absence. Which characteristics are protected depends on where you are hiring, so ask HR for the list that applies to you. If a reference volunteers something of this kind, do not write it down and do not use it.
Pay history
A number of places restrict employers from asking about a candidate's past pay, and those rules may cover what you ask a reference too. Leave salary out unless you have confirmed what is allowed where you are hiring.
Calling people the candidate did not name
An off-list call can tell a current employer that someone is job hunting, and privacy rules or your own company policy may restrict it. If you want to speak to someone who is not on the list, ask the candidate to arrange it.
General practice, not legal advice
What you may ask, record and disclose differs by country, state and employer. Treat this page as a description of common practice and check the specifics with your HR team or an employment lawyer before you rely on them.
After the call
Write it up within the hour
Record what was said in the reference's own words, and keep it apart from your reading of it. 'Paused, then said fine' is a note you can use later. 'Seemed lukewarm' on its own is not. Use the same form for every reference.
Know who may read your notes
Candidates sometimes ask what a reference said about them, and whether they are entitled to see your notes varies by place and employer. Find out how it works at your organization before you call, write nothing you would not want read back, and do not promise a reference a confidentiality you cannot keep.
Confirm who you spoke to
For a senior or sensitive role, it is reasonable to check that the reference is who the candidate says: call through the employer's main number, or confirm the person's role from a company email address. A personal cell number alone tells you little.
Take concerns to the candidate
If something does not match, say so and ask. 'Your former manager remembered the dates differently' is a fair thing to raise, and how the candidate responds is often more informative than the discrepancy itself.
Weigh it with the rest
A reference is one person's view of one job at one time. Let it confirm or question what the interviews and work samples told you. It should seldom overturn them alone, in either direction.