Opinion: Go with gut feeling when hiring

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I am always happy to provide a work reference for someone who needs one. Obviously I will have worked with the person in the past and can attest to their skills, knowledge and strengths.

But surely it's not too much to ask of a former work colleague or employee to contact me first. To ask if they can give my name as a referee. To get a call out of the blue from someone in the HR department or from a recruitment agency is not appreciated.

Sometimes I struggle to remember who they are actually referring to. Last year I received a call from an agency in Australia about someone I worked with over 10 years ago. Surely that person would now have a more recent referee to provide.

I have not always given permission in the past when asked if my name can be given as a referee. That's on the occasions when I have been contacted. I have simply said it would be better if they got someone else - a response that hasn't always been well received. But if I wouldn't re-employ them why would I recommend them to someone else? Pass the problem on. But most times I do want to help because someone is trying to get a job after all.

But over the last few years I think HR departments and recruitment agencies are becoming more demanding in their reference checks. I believe they want to recommend and hire the best person for the job. So they should take reference checking seriously and there have been some well publicised cases in the past where job applicants have lied about their qualifications and suitability for a job. Thorough reference checking might have seen these blunders avoided.

But recently I have been asked to respond to a set of questions that will take "no more than 15 - 20 minutes of your time". Try 40 minutes if you're lucky. Now I just ask for the questions to be emailed to me. The questionnaires vary in size but 20 questions is not unusual. This week it was a six-page questionnaire "oh, and I need it returned by this afternoon if you can please'. You must be joking. Who sits around just waiting for this to land on their desk? I certainly don't. That length of questionnaire is too long, and in my view unnecessary. I don't want to spend an hour completing it. Because that's the time it would take to do it honestly and fairly. I thought many of the questions were more suited to the applicant's job interview. Not questions for a referee.

I am now starting to wonder about the usefulness of referees and references. They require time and effort to follow up. But do they add real value to the hiring process? The majority of people wouldn't name a referee if they thought that person would give them a bad rap. So maybe when recruiting you just take your chances. Go with your gut feeling. Then again that could turn out to be a costly mistake. I'm sure an honest response to reference checking is appreciated by HR personnel. Just don't make the task too onerous for those who want to assist you to make the right hiring decisions.

Merepeka lives in Rotorua. She writes, speaks and broadcasts to thwart the spread of political correctness.