Tips for Reading a Reference Report
Tip #1:
Always read the full report if a candidate scores less than 85% on either category. Do not base
your perception of a candidate solely on the probability of rehire. Review the entire report to
gain valuable insight on a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to the job.
Pro Tip: Make sure the raters/references are qualified to rate the candidate. See pages 4-5 on
Qualification of Raters and the List of Raters for information on how to identify qualified
raters/references.
Top Line Percentage: It will vary per organization and industry, but a good rule of thumb is to
check if the candidate’s probability of rehire or overall performance is below 85%.
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Tip #2:
Use the feedback in the open ended text section as a tool to enhance the interviews and/or to
help managers onboard a new employee.
Example: Behavioral question based on the feedback below: “Can you describe, in more detail,
how you created positive change at your previous organization/department?”
Pro Tip: Review the Top 3 Areas of Improvement section for potential red flags that would
indicate a bad culture fit or lack of qualifications for the job. Reference the Top 3 Strengths and
Significant Accomplishments sections to help guide interviews and formulate interview
questions.
Top 3 Key Features: This is a great section to learn about where your candidate excels, which
can be helpful in the onboarding process.
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Tip #3:
Consider each red attribute and assess further if they are critical to the success on the job.
Example: “Is seen as a team player” is a relative weakness, and could be very damaging if the
job considered required a strong reliance on a team.
Pro Tip: Mouseover individual bars to see the minimum and maximum scores a candidate
received for each attribute. Make sure there is no outlier that skews the rating.
Specific Relative Ranking: The dotted line represents the candidate’s own average across all
the attributes. Anytime a candidate scores significantly below their personal average, the bar
will appear in red. This indicates a candidate’s relative areas for improvement. Make sure that
the candidate’s strengths align with the job profile to ensure the highest probability of success.
Do not consider the absolute value (i.e. 5.7 out of 7) but instead the relative value (i.e. this
attribute is lower – red – than the rest and therefore not a strength of the candidate).
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Tip #4:
Always make sure the raters/references are qualified to rate the candidate.
Pro Tip: A good rule of thumb is to look for yellow and green professional icons in the yellow
and green zones. This means that the candidate invited relevant, professional references. Also,
watch out for icons with their arms raised, as this indicates a friend response.
Qualification of Raters: This chart was designed to show whether or not the candidate invited
relevant references (recent history, worked together directly, worked together for a significant
period of time, etc.).
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Tip #5:
Review the references’ relation to the candidate to ensure that qualified raters/references
responded to the Checkup. Verify that the email addresses are professional addresses and that
the organizations stated align with those referenced in the candidate’s resume.
Pro Tip: A double asterisk next to the reference’s relation means that there is a discrepancy
between the relation chosen by the candidate and the reference (ie. the candidate identified
Chloe as a Supervisor, but Chloe identified herself as a Subordinate).
List of Raters: The top section shows the references’ current information while the bottom
section shows their professional history in relation to the candidate.
