Checking employment references?

[badmus]

Do retail stores like superstore, walmart etc call your former employers to ask about you if you are applying for a store position and if they do what kind of questions do they ask or what kind of verification do they do.

[Churo1]

99% of the time no one cares. They want someone who will work a long time doing bullcrap work for very little pay.

[Nutchos]

Bestbuy didn't check my references. TSCC did check references. Esso checked references. Futureshop checked references.

I know one question pretty much everyone asks is: Would you hire him/her again?

[Survivor2008]

Do employers check multiple candidates' references or just the person they are planning to offer the job to? I would think the latter but now i'm not so sure.

[chris0101]

Whether or not they check references is quite inconsistent. It depends on whether or not the manager has time to do so, the difficult and responsibility in the job, etc.

Either way, it is in your best interests to give out valid and good references that will say positive things about you. Often times, employers may be reluctant to comment about you (fear of lawsuit). All that a reference checker may be able to get is your name, rank/job title (plus a job description), serial number (sometimes a secret as well), and the dates that you worked at the company for. It's best to assume that the employer will check the references either way.

[Survivor2008]

Can an employer check someone who is not one of your "aproved" references?

[airodus]

I get a lot of reference calls from employment agencies. So if you go through a temp agency or a recruitment firm, expect the agency to check your references (as opposed to the employer).

[engbad]

I get a lot of reference calls from employment agencies. So if you go through a temp agency or a recruitment firm, expect the agency to check your references (as opposed to the employer).

What kind of questions do they ask in a reference call?

[airodus]

What kind of questions do they ask in a reference call?

It's always a stupid list where they ask you to rate the employee between 1 and 10 or bad to good. Then at the end they ask you for any comments. It's always very general behavior questions and never anything to do with a skillset.

[sachinator]

What kind of questions do they ask in a reference call?

If its just regarding a mundane, repeat job, they could care less about references and would be more concerned with if you can or cannot do the job. For a place like Future Shop, they'd probably ask how your people skills are, if you are results/goal-oriented, and/or if you have leadership and other skills to work with others or to lead people.

It all depends on the job. Some jobs require the person to have certain skill set (like Java programming), so a more technical reference would be concerned on whether you were able to accomplish certain tasks or complete projects using those skill sets, in a timely and appropriate manner.