Recruiters contacting references- is this normal?

[mommin]

DH was recently contacted by a top recruiting agency in his field (healthcare administration) about a job that seems like a really good fit. First phone interview went great and he was contacted a few days later about an interview with a V.P. from the recruting agency. That interview was last Monday. It seemed to go well and he was told they would get back to him in 10 days or so after they finished all the second interviews. Okay, cool.

Here is the part that seems odd to me- the same day as the second interview he gets an email requesting his consent for a full background check and contact information for FIVE references; including at least two former bosses. This seems early in the process since he's never even spoken to someone in the company that would acutally hire him and isn't even sure yet if they will want to do an in-person interview. The email states that they "may" contact these people during the process so we figure they are collecting info to be used at a later date. He texts the references to get their okay but tries not to raise any flags since they may never be contacted and he doesn't want to alarm his coworkers. He submitted their information and, to our surprise, they were all immediately sent a link to fill out a whole questionnaire about DH. We are grateful that they all completed this but he has never had a company make references do so much work and we've only had references contacted at the very end of the hiring process immediately before an offer was made. Has anyone else had a company contact references this early in the process? Is this a thing nowadays? It's been 8 years or so since he has worked with a recruiter.

I can see this being a way of vetting candidates before going through the trouble and cost of in-person interviews but it leaves DH in a little bit of an awkward spot as he now has five bosses/colleagues that know he is considering leaving. We are in a pretty close-knit area where word tends to travel fast and he is keeping his fingers crossed it doesn't make it back to his current boss since we seem pretty far out from an actual decision being made. Additionally, if he doesn't receive this position and continues to apply for other jobs he will have to contact all of these people again to ask for a reference and doesn't want to become a nuisance. Thoughts?

[MrsE]

It depends. Sometimes they legitimately check references. Often times references provided to a recruiting agency are actually used as leads to passive candidates and to better understand organizations. It is not unusual with agencies. Good luck to him with the job opportunity.

[lolalolalola]

It's not unusual with third party recruiters, in my experience. They want to present a fully vetted candidate to the employer.

[chimera]

I got my current one via recruiting agency - they had the info fairly early - but didn’t check them until after my second of three interviews. The 3rd was formality with the CSO

[mommin]

I'm glad this doesn't seem too out in left field. We're keeping our fingers crossed because this whole job searching this is for the birds.

[woowoo]

This is interesting. My company has a pretty strict policy about not providing character references. All I'm permitted to share is that this person indeed worked for me, and if they left/are in good standing. I share this when people ask to use me as a reference, but I still get these types of questionnaires and they make me extremely uncomfortable answering. What if the person doesn't get the job because I said something negative about them? Apparently my company is then liable for a potential discrimination suit (even if it's unwarranted)

I wasn't aware this is common practice.

[brooke77]

That seems aggressive. I would be very hesitant to allow a recruiter to contact my references until a job offer is imminent. I would think that an extremely reputable recruiter working with top talent would understand the need for ultimate discretion.

[mrsjuleshs]

I work in recruiting and we do not do a background check or reference calls until a job offer is on the table.

[RockNVoll]

I'd be pretty uncomfortable with this and find it really odd. I'm super protective of my references and have never provided them until the last stages of the process.

Nothing to be done about it now and fingers crossed for him, but I'd push back in the future.

[k3am]

Oct 17, 2019 14:02:29 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I'd be pretty uncomfortable with this and find it really odd. I'm super protective of my references and have never provided them until the last stages of the process.

Nothing to be done about it now and fingers crossed for him, but I'd push back in the future.

+1 on this. I've only ever had references verified as a final precursor to an offer letter. 

[SusanBAnthony]

I wouldn't provide them until I'd at least interviewed with the actual company.