Who Should Your References Be? What Will They Be Asked?
Who should you choose to be your reference (or call as a reference)? What will they/should they be asked? Here’s our experience, which should prove helpful to you whether you are hiring or trying to land a job.
- Your ideal list of references should be about four.
- Don’t just use people you used to work for. Include people who worked alongside you, and people who worked for you. We want a 360 of you as a person and a potential employee.
A great list of references will include:
- Previous supervisors
- Spiritual advisers or trusted friends
- Church members
- Former employees
Here are some questions we will likely ask your references.
- What was [candidate's] biggest contribution to the job while working for/with you?
- Have you seen [CANDIDATE] fail while leading a project? How did he/she address it?
- Tell me about [CANDIDATE's] top spiritual gifts.
- Have you seen [CANDIDATE] build teams? If so, tell me how.
- If [CANDIDATE] died today, how would his/her work be remembered?
- What is it like to work for [CANDIDATE]? What are his/her top strengths as a leader? Where could they be better?
- In what type of church he/she most effective?
- What do you think will be [CANDIDATE's] biggest challenge in the job they are applying for?
- What is [CANDIDATE's] prayer life and spiritual discipline like?
You might keep this list to prepare your references for calls, or to use for your own reference calling. And as always, our firm is glad to help you in your own search process. Feel free to contact us.
The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps large churches and ministries find their key staff people.
