Forums
Conducting Reference Checks
Recruiting & Staffing
Conducting Reference Checks
Exchange ideas about sourcing, screening, interviewing, finding passive candidates, measuring your results, and more.
While doing reference checks in the last month I've had two potential employees whose previous employer uses The Work Number for employment verification. We are a fairly small non-profit organization
0
Cat:Topic ForumsForum:ForumId56
Cat:Topic ForumsForum:ForumId56Discussion:DiscussionId33603
Forums » Topic Forums » Recruiting & Staffing » Conducting Reference Checks
|
Conducting Reference Checks
posted at 8/3/2007 8:22 AM EDT
|
Posts: 1
First: 8/3/2007 Last: 8/3/2007 |
While doing reference checks in the last month I've had two potential employees whose previous employer uses The Work Number for employment verification. We are a fairly small non-profit organization and can't afford to pay to find out what someone's employment dates, etc. are. Is this a fairly popular new trend? Am I wrong in thinking that it's wrong to have to pay to find out whether someone used to work for a company? I mean, it seems like companies pay to have their verifications handled by The Work Number and then the prospective employer has to pay to get that information? I admit that providing verification to other companies about my former employees isn't my favorite part of the job but I wouldn't consider making a prospective employer pay for it. |
|
|
Conducting Reference Checks
posted at 8/3/2007 4:32 PM EDT
|
|
Posts: 29
First: 7/27/2007 Last: 8/31/2007 |
While I understand your annoyance, I don't think it's much different than, say, having to pay for parking at some places and not at others. This is a service a lot of companies are now choosing for several reasons. It cuts out days of phone tag and saves labor administrative costs, especially for places with high turnovers, like call centers or restaurants.
Here in GA, we are allowed to make statements about former employees during the verification process, as long as those statements are true and not malicious. Liability concerns are prevalent because sometimes subjective or personal things are said, often times with no intent to harm. In fact, many companies here make it a policy only to reveal dates of hire and termination, last payrate and eligibility for rehire ("yes" or "no"). A service like The Work Number removes the possibility of subjectivity and adds what many consider to be convenience and accuracy. Of course, smaller organizations may not like having to pay, but the companies who pay to have their database available probably think they are doing you (the potential hiring company) a favor by making it easy and immediate! This service may get mixed reviews, but I hope you are able to reap the positive benefits of being able to use it. Since you said you are not a large organization, hopefully, you won't have to use it often! I hope this helped. |
|
|
Conducting Reference Checks
posted at 8/5/2007 6:00 AM EDT
|
|
Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
Look at the bright side. At least you get your information immediately rather than having to make repeated calls to get it. And how much in terms of your time does repeated calls and waiting for someone to look up info cost? |
|
|
Conducting Reference Checks
posted at 10/16/2007 9:54 AM EDT
|
|
Posts: 6
First: 10/16/2007 Last: 1/3/2008 |
I do agree that it is a very useful service, in terms of time. But I also work for a small non-profit agency. I do think that either the company itself or The Work Number should provide alternative services based upon that fact. The one time I have had to use them so far, they wouldn't do anything for me. I went to my supervisors about this and when they called after about 30 minutes of arguing about it, they reluctantly made an exception for us. To avoid situations like this The Work Number should provide an alternative service for organizations and agencies such as mine. |
|
|
Conducting Reference Checks
posted at 10/25/2007 6:56 AM EDT
|
|
Posts: 1
First: 10/25/2007 Last: 10/25/2007 |
My former employer uses The Work Number; therefore, that is what I provide to potential employers. As a large employer, this saves us a lot of time and effort in tracking information on current and former employees, provides accurate information in case a manager has transitioned to another role, reduces man hours in having someone respond to calls and/or emails, and it is a huge cost savings. From a candidate's perspective, I like it because the information can be given immediately and based on facts. Also 9 times out of 10, your manager has moved on to another role and if you are not in contact with them, you can provide accurate information to a potential employer. |
Forums » Topic Forums » Recruiting & Staffing » Conducting Reference Checks
