When reviewing a candidate, it can be really useful to hear from people that actually used to work with them before. This is where References come in handy! With this feature, you will be able to send a form to the reference, allowing the reference to answer when they are available. You will then see their answer directly in the candidate’s profile.
✨ This is an Add-on feature, so to start using it you need to activate it under your Feature center.
Once you’ve enabled the feature, head over to your company Settings, where you’ll see a brand new section for Reference templates. You will have a default template, to help you to get started.
Create/edit your Reference templates
The reference template is the form you send to the person you want to answer the questions. This lets you gather feedback on anything you might want to know, from what their professional relationship was when they worked together, or anything else you want to know.
You can use the Teamtailor default template if you want, or edit this to fit your need. And you also add as many reference templates as you need, if you need different feedback for different recruitments.
Looking at the details of a form, you can ask the following question types:
Question type/Title | Description |
Short text | One line answer requested |
Long text | Allows reference to add multiple paragraphs, a great way to indicate that you want a longer answer |
Number | The reference can answer with a number only |
Date | Ask the reference to add a date as the answer |
Checkbox/Multiple choice | Add several options to allow the reference to choose from |
Single choice | Allow the reference to select one option. If you add several options, the reference can only select one |
Required questions
You can make any question Required, by ticking the Required box. This means the form can’t be submitted without this field being answered. This will be indicated with a small * next to the question.
Send the reference form
Once you have the reference templates in place, it’s time to start collecting answers. This can be done in three ways:
1. Send to a Recommender
When a candidate connects with you, they are asked to provide people you can recommend to them. Once these people give you their Yes / No answer, you will be able to send a Reference template of your choosing.
2. Manually add a Reference
You will also be able to add References manually in the candidate’s profile. Do this by opening the candidate menu, and clicking Add reference. Add the information you have, and choose if you want the form to be sent right away. By leaving send email blank, you will be able to send this message later when the time is right.
3. Trigger reference automatically
You can take the workflow automation to another level by adding an Ask for feedback trigger to your recruitment process. Select what template to send, and as soon as the candidate lands in this stage, the form is sent to any recommender that has answered Yes / No in the initial email.
What does this look like for the Reference?
The email sent to the Reference will look something like this (image to the left). When opening the form, they will end up on a form directly on your career page (image to the right).
View reference answers
Once a reference form has been answered, the recruiter will be notified, and you will see the reference directly on the candidate card. Just click View reference to read the full reference.
Who will be able to view the reference answers?
Like with most things in Teamtailor, it’s important that data is only visible to the relevant team members. This is why the reference answers are displayed to the team that should be able to view them. Specifically, if the reference is sent from within a job context it will therefore also be accessible by the hiring team members of this specific job.
Sounds complicated? We have listed what is accessible for what user in this article here.
If you want to share these answers with somebody outside of your Teamtailor account, you’ll be happy to know that these are a part of the Share candidate feature, listed under Recommendations & References
What if the Reference doesn’t answer?
When you’ve sent the reference form, this person’s status is changed to Waiting for feedback. If the person doesn’t answer, you might want to manually send them an email via your email service as a small nudge. You find the person's email address by hovering over their name.
The people receiving the reference form request will always have the option to Opt-out directly in the email. When doing so, this person's detail is removed from that candidate’s profile. While being on the subject of compliance, the mandatory legal information is automatically added to the bottom of the email, which is also includes a link to your company’s Privacy policy.
