Four is the Magic Number in Reference Checking, Says New Checkster Research - Tech Funnel
While companies tend to call an average of 2.4 references when using traditional methods, digital automation tools allow hiring managers to access many more references than would be feasible with phone calls. Because of the confidentiality of the digital process, references feel more comfortable giving candid feedback about candidates.
“Research has shown that digital reference checking is one of the best selection processes and checking four references ensures that candidates aren’t cherry-picking the few references who will say good things about them.”
Breaking through reference check bottlenecks -ATC Hub
Checkster in the French Speaking Press
Screening's Sorry State - Human Resource Executive
The research, [...], finds that only one-fifth of HR professionals feel fully confident in their organization's ability to effectively assess the skills of entry-level job applicants.
[...] The screening process is in dire need of innovation [...] Checkster, which uses "the science of collective intelligence to improve the hiring process" and Pymetrics, which uses gamification to assess candidates' cognitive and emotional traits."
e-HRM Report
"Quality of hire reflects the ability of new hires when it comes to performing their job. The goal of measuring quality of hire is to prevent poor hiring decisions while improving current hiring methods. Why does this need to be measured?"
Discover why in a recent report that was published by HRMinfo featuring Checkster CEO Yves Lermusi and his take on the importance of quality of hire.
Checkster creates a better picture of the candidate
“We constantly improve the way we select candidates. Checkster is a great example of that”, says Isabelle Callebaut, Director Randstad Professionals. “The tool supports the candidate in his quest for the right job and gives the employer a full and representative view of the candidate.”
Randstad Professionals presents Checkster proactively to candidates. “That gives them the opportunity to get to know the tool and collect the necessary references in a timely manner. That way, the employer does not have to wait during the recruitment process. That time gain is crucial today”, explains Isabelle Callebaut...Checkster not only provides a better match between candidate and company, the selection process also happens faster.”
Read the full Dutch article here >
Read the translated article here >
Real Time References
By Larry Stevens
… Kevin Nakao when he was CEO of White Pages Inc. says Checkster saved him from making a serious hiring mistake.
….This was a very high-level hire, the candidate came from a prestigious company. We were really excited to get him. The reference process went swimmingly. The Checkster forms were returned quickly, and the ratings were excellent. But the system flagged one of the referrers as possibly fraudulent. Nakao telephoned the reference, who said he never received the form. This revealed what was obviously a very serious character flaw.
Quality of Hire – How to Make Better Talent Decisions – Radio Interview with Peter Clayton
“About 50% of the hires that are made are not great.”
How do you define quality when it comes to recruiting and hiring? That was the topic of discussion at the Recruting Trends Conference in Las Vegas, featuring panelists Jason Buss, VP, Global Talent Management at Akraya; Kay Creighton, Cox Communications Director of HR; and Jason Pistulka, Director Technology Recruiting and Corporate College Relations at Asurion; moderated by our guest, Yves Lermusi CEO and founder of Checkster.
How to uncover quality in the hiring process is the focus of this podcast.
Automated Reference Checking: Better Intel in a Fraction of the Time in Workforce Magazine
By Michelle Goodman
Armed with this software, not only can companies obtain better feedback from references, but also they can obtain more of it per candidate.
“All I do is input the candidate’s name and e-mail address. I don’t have to make phone calls.” Instead, a candidate’s references are asked to rate the person’s skills online, anonymously, in a survey of approximately 25 questions a process that takes all of 10 minutes and can be done on the person’s own time.
Net Worth – Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle
By Kathleen Pender
Seek (brutally) honest feedback
The problem with Americans is that most of us think we are above-average workers when half of us are below average, says Oakland career coach Marty Nemko.
Pre-Hiring Candidates Through Reference-Checking – Business Insider
By Heather R. Huhman
Checkster provide services for employers to perform reference assessments that can provide much more insight than a phone call
When you’re looking to hire someone for an open position, the candidate’s resume can only reveal so much about how they will perform the job. While social media and online portfolios provide a more in-depth look at them as an employee, they typically don’t include the information you really need to know.
This is where reference checks come in. By calling a candidate’s references, you can learn about their past behavior and performance in order to determine if they will be a good fit at your organization. What skills, values, and behaviors did he or she exhibit at past positions? Surely, their former supervisors, clients, and co-workers can help provide a fuller picture of the individual before you offer them the job.
Are You in The Right Job Field? – Newsday
By Joyce Lain Kennedy
Checkster (checkster.com) is a free assessment of optimal job fit. Perhaps you should take another look at your career choice — are you in the right job field?
Why Interviews Are a Waste of Time – ERE
By Kevin Wheeler
"There are many tools available to recruiters that could improve their ability to reliably select and recommend candidates […] Using a tool such as Checkster, you can get anonymous and wide-ranging feedback from many people who have worked with the candidate."
Recruiters and hiring managers love interviews. I have never been sure why that’s the case, but it seems to satisfy a human need for power and control. An interviewer has power to recommend for a job or not. Sometimes an interviewer has the power to actually make the hiring decision, and by holding a person’s economic future and career success in your hands, you can feel very powerful.
New Website For Your Resume- U.S. News & World Report
By Heather Huhman
Checkster’s Talent Checkup: Confirm Your Strengths & Weaknesses
Checkster’s Talent Checkup is an online system to request constructive, confidential feedback on your work performance from the peers and colleagues who know you and your talents best. Unlike CVCertify, Talent Checkup isn’t used only when you have a job description in front of you. Rather, it helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses at any time through your connections. With this information in hand, you can better craft your resume’s Professional Profile section. With the free version, you receive one individual report, can request feedback from up to 25 “raters,” and it allows up to four days for those individuals to respond. There is also a more robust version available for $19.95.
Screening Under Scrutiny – COVER STORY – in HR Magazine from SHRM
By Dori Meinert
"… employers are turning to online surveys that return more comments more quickly."
For a traditional reference check by phone, it takes 76 minutes to try to contact three references and reach two, says Yves Lermusi, CEO of Checkster, a background-screening company in Mill Valley, Calif. His company offers a web-based tool … Using the tool takes about two minutes to trigger the process. Recruiters spend five minutes to read the report, he says. A typical customer gets six responses from eight references.
360-Degree New Hire Tools, 411 on 360 in HR Executive Magazine
By Michael O’Brien
"… the 360-degree review has been an accepted tool… but thanks to technological advances that have made it cheaper and more readily available for new-hire reviews of line workers, such tools may soon become even more popular."
Yves Lermusi, CEO of Checkster, a San Francisco based talent management firm that offers 360 degree new hire tools, says “there is no reason” the tool couldn’t be used to determine fit for all levels of hiring.
Product Review by Talent Management Analyst and Visionary John Sumser
"Checkster merits your attention. Crowdsourced reference checking will be the way that things get done four or five years from now. Easier, faster better, cheaper, smarter."
Four years into the process, Yves Lermusi is a smooth spokesman for his gift to reference checking, Checkster. After graduating from Taleo (where he was on the ground floor and built much of their research business), Lermusi starting fermenting the idea that was to become Checkster.
After 18 months in product development and 30 months of trench level selling , it looks like Yves just might have changed the way that things get done.
Bridging the Divide Between HR and Job Seekers – in HR Advisor
By Paula Santonocito
It goes without saying that HR professionals and job seekers approach the employment marketplace from different sides of the desk. However, more than a desk frequently comes between the two groups. A lack of understanding regarding the other’s position can lead to confusion and conflict—for both parties. Fortunately, the gap isn’t a chasm, it can be bridged.
Reference Check 2.0: How Digital Social Networking is Transforming the Selection Process – Radio Interview
Welcome to an Inside Recruiting Channel podcast on TotalPicture Radio. This is Peter Clayton reporting. What can we learn from the two biggest Internet pure play successes to better manage our organizations?
Need a Job? See What NOT to do Before You Apply on ABC
With several job seekers out there, many recruiters have been able to pick out what they do not like when looking at a candidate.
Yahoo! asked recruiters what they didn’t like. Check out what they said before you apply for your next job.
What is your biggest pet peeve about job seekers today?
Know Thyself – by Marty Nemko in KIPLINGER
By Marty Nemko, Contributing Columnist, Kiplinger.com
Here’s an easy way to get constructive feedback that may save your job in these tough times.
For years, I’ve been pushing my clients to get a 360-degree evaluation — that is, asking their boss, co-workers and supervisees for anonymous feedback on their work.
Automation Can Help Ease the Pain of Reference Checking
By Adrienne Fox, October 2008
Reference checking is getting a whole lot easier—and some say more accurate—thanks to web-based automation. Recruiters view reference checking as a critical step in the hiring process, but the time involved in tracking down contacts on the phone and the difficulty getting them to say more than dates of employment and title takes away much of the value.
Better Reference Checks in Far Less Time
You’ve conducted both rounds of interviews, narrowed the field to a single candidate and made a hiring offer; contingent, of course, on a reference and background check. Now it’s time to get on the phone and check the references they’ve given you. Right? WRONG!
Looking For Work?
Richard Nelson Bolles, who has been offering job-hunting advice for almost 40 years, finds that although there have been a lot of changes in the outward form of the search, the substance has remained the same: finding employers who have vacancies. The old way to find these openings was through newspaper classified ads, while today it is online job postings, he said last week at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. Mr. Bolles recommends seven Web sites to job seekers, including Indeed.com; RileyGuide.com; Job-Hunt.org; JobStar.org; and Checkster.com, as well as a book by Warren Farrell, “Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap — and What Women Can Do About It.”
Checkster Recognized by Gartner in “Cool Vendors for Human Capital Management Software, 2008”
James Holincheck and Thomas Otter from Gartner included Checkster as a “Cool Vendor” in their latest research on Human Capital Management Software. Cool vendors in Human Capital Management Software for 2008 focus on emerging HCM trends of workforce analytics, as well as the broader social networking trend in HCM context.
Check Out Checkster For Career Help
Dear Joyce: At 25, I am doing OK, but I'm not being selected for a recent promotion. Because I am trying to pay off my student loans as fast as I can, I don’t feel I can afford to pay for counseling to be sure I’m in the right career. I’ve read two books you recommended, but that didn’t help as much as I’d like. Advice?
Solving Business ™ ‘Dirty Secret’
By John Zappe
When Yves Lermusi left as head of Taleo Research last summer to launch Checkster, he somewhat mysteriously described the new company as a career- and talent-checkup service.
Now we know what the man “ one of the – 100 most influential people in recruiting“ has been up to. Checkster went public June 6, calling itself a Personal Feedback Management tool. Technically, it is. But then, a souffl is technically an egg dish.
What Checkster.com offers is a way for you to discover what others think about your professional performance and competencies. Quoting Jack Welch, fabled former head of GE, Lermusi told us, “The biggest dirty little secret in business (is the) lack of candid feedback.” Checkster is an effort to solve that problem.
Are You in the Right Career? Radio Interview with Peter Clayton
According to the Gallup Organization, 69% of employees today are disengaged – costing the US economy more than $400 billion a year. My guest today on Total Picture Radio, Yves Lermusi thinks he has a solution to the checked-out workforce.
I finally caught-up with Yves at the recent ERE Conference and Expo in Hollywood, FL. Yves Lermusi (aka Lermusiaux) is CEO & founder of Checkster and a Taleo Fellow.
