Do you check up on applicants’ references? If you don’t, you may want to start. According to a new survey, nearly 30 percent of employers reported that they have caught a fake reference on a candidate’s application.

Overall, the vast majority of employers (80 percent) said they do contact references when evaluating potential employees.

Impact of references. Roughly 70 percent of employers said they have changed their minds about a candidate after speaking with a reference, with 47 percent reporting they had a less favorable opinion and 23 percent reporting they had a more favorable opinion.

Around 30 percent said references haven’t swayed their decisions on a candidate one way or the other.

On a final note, here’s some insight from the survey from the worker’s perspective:

Do references know? Workers were asked, “Do references always know they’re being listed?”

Fifteen percent reported that they have listed someone as a reference but didn’t tell that person.

How many is enough? Workers were also asked, “How many references should you provide?”

Seventy percent of the workers reported that they provide three or more references when applying for jobs. Ten percent said they typically don’t provide any references.

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder®.

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-HR Daily Advisor-BLR

HR_Strange_But_true_Employees_Flyin_High_for_Going_Above_and_Beyond

Employees Flyin’ High for Going ‘Above and Beyond’