{"id":999881293,"date":"2012-02-20T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/?p=965112409"},"modified":"2012-02-20T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T16:00:00","slug":"scoop-on-prospective-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/scoop-on-prospective-employees","title":{"rendered":"Get the Real Scoop on Prospective Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You can conduct interviews, assessments and run a background investigation, but <a title=\"Reference Checks \u2013 What You Can Learn and How to Conduct Them \" href=\"http:\/\/www.meador.com\/2011\/12\/30\/reference-checks-what-you-can-learn-and-how-to-conduct-them\/\" target=\"_blank\">reference checks<\/a> are the only way to confirm your conclusions and get the real scoop on prospective employees.<\/p>\n<p>Former managers and peers have first hand knowledge of a candidate\u2019s assets and liabilities and they&#8217;ll tell you everything you need to know, once you get them talking.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prepare<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Figure out what you want to know and create a short list of open-ended questions to illicit the information. Remember, it&#8217;s better to ask two or three questions and listen intently to the manager&#8217;s answers then run through a checklist of closed-ended questions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Break the Ice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ease into the conversation and build trust by verifying critical information on the candidate\u2019s resume or application and since there\u2019s no point in continuing the conversation if you uncover major fabrications.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Segue Second<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you verify a few facts segue to an open-ended question for instance, after verifying an applicant\u2019s substantial list of technical tasks, ask how he was able to master so many different technologies and diverse responsibilities. Once the manager starts talking, it should be easy to ask the rest of your questions. <a title=\"Top Tips for Conducting Great Reference Checks \" href=\"http:\/\/betterhiringtoday.com\/top-tips-for-conducting-great-reference-checks\/\" target=\"_blank\">Listen carefully to his answers <\/a>and be sure to ask follow-up questions if the manager hesitates or seems to hedge his response.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Overcome Reluctance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the manager absolutely refuses to talk due to company policy, read him the job description and ask if he would hire the candidate for the position. You may be able to ask why, but even if he refuses to elaborate, his short answer may tell you whether to make an offer or keep looking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can conduct interviews, assessments and run a background investigation, but reference checks are the only way to confirm your conclusions and get the real scoop on prospective employees. Former managers and peers have first hand knowledge of a candidate\u2019s assets and liabilities and they&#8217;ll tell you everything you need to know, once you get [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":965112409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2155],"class_list":["post-999881293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hiring-candidates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.2 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Get the Real Scoop on Prospective Employees - Dice Hiring<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You can conduct interviews, assessments and run a background investigation, but reference checks are the only way to confirm your conclusions and get the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/scoop-on-prospective-employees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get the Real Scoop on Prospective Employees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You can conduct interviews, assessments and run a background investigation, but reference checks are the only way to confirm your conclusions and get the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/scoop-on-prospective-employees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dice Hiring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-20T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dice.npgdev.com\/hiring\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_159315359-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dice Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Dicedotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Dicedotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dice Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees\"},\"author\":{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Leslie Stevens-Huffman\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/authors\\\/leslie-stevens-huffman\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/leslieshuffman\"]},\"headline\":\"Get the Real Scoop on Prospective Employees\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-20T16:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees\"},\"wordCount\":282,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/shutterstock_159315359-4.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Hiring Candidates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dice.npgdev.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/scoop-on-prospective-employees\",\"name\":\"Get the Real Scoop on Prospective Employees - 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