One more scenario: I agreed to be a reference for my former subordinate. One of his potential employers was a staffing agency. I got a call that was ostensibly a reference check, but really a sales pitch, trying to place people on my team. It was awful because the caller hinted that the former team member somehow will have a better chance of finding a job through them if I did business with this agency (the team member did not want to work for our organization anymore, though our relationship was cordial). I was really p!ssed off after the call.
Luckily, this agency made no money on this person, who is now gainfully employed elsewhere.

TL; DR. If you are a jobseeker signing up with a staffing agency, they do not just require references to check your background, but also to develop business with your managers.

Anonymous wrote:Some do, some don't; I've had 3 jobs where my references weren't checked and the in the remaining, they were.

One of my past employers, a major defense contractor, had a policy of never checking references for liability reasons. Sad.

Anonymous wrote:Most usually do as a final decision point prior to sending out an offer letter. However, personally - I find the practice useless. Of course the references you list would say something nice, that's why you list them. I really don't see what the value add is and I feel like its normally done just to "check the box".

Agreed.

I work in HR and any fortune 500/high prestige employer will check every last reference without fail. There are companies that do this, our form uses Kroll.

Do not lie.

I've allowed folks to list me as a reference many times, and in response I've gotten many call from employers checking references, so the answer is clearly yes.

Anonymous wrote:Hiring people, what do you do when a reference doesn't return the call or isn't at the listed number anymore?

I applied for a bunch of fed jobs months ago and have started getting interviews, but I just found out today that one of my references left her job recently and isn't at the number I gave out. Going forward, I'll offer an updated list, but I'm worried about the places where I already interviewed.

If I'm really interested in talking to that reference, I might follow up with the applicant and see if there is a new contact number or if they can provide another reference. But, I'd have to think it was worth the effort.

Its probably on you, as the applicant, to make sure you keep your references and their contacts current (as much as possible).