Reference Check Questions: A 20-Minute Call Script

A reference check is a short call where someone who worked with your finalist confirms what they did and how they worked. In 20 minutes, ask what the person owned, what came of it, how they worked with others, why they left and whether the referee would hire them again, and listen for specifics rather than praise.

We build Talent Summoner, which finds and ranks candidates from public profiles, with the reasoning behind each match. It does not do reference checks, so the script below works with or without it; your first Role is free, with no card.

This page is for a founder or hiring manager with one finalist and two referee phone numbers. If you hire in volume, or your role needs a formal background check, skip to the last section.

What do you ask in a 20-minute reference check?

Use the same script for both referees, and take notes on the one-page record further down.

Minutes	Do this	Listen for
0–2	Say who you are, the role, and that you will keep the answers private to the hiring team	Whether the referee is comfortable talking
2–7	Verify scope: how they worked together, the title, the team size, what the person owned	A scope that matches the CV
7–15	Ask for results and working style with one real example each	A story with names, numbers and the person's own part
15–18	Ask why they left and whether the referee would rehire	The pause before the answer, and the reason given
18–20	Ask what you should do to help this person succeed, then close	A specific, usable answer

Which reference check questions should you ask?

Pick two or three from each row. Ask every finalist's referees the same ones, and keep each question about the job.

Verifying	Questions
Scope of work	How did you work with them, and for how long? What was their title and what did they own? How big was the team or budget they handled?
Results	What was the most important thing they delivered for you? How do you know it worked? What would have happened without them?
Working with others	How did they handle disagreement with you or a peer? How did they treat people junior to them? Tell me about a time they gave or took hard feedback.
Why they left	Why did they leave, in your view? Was there anything you wished had gone differently?
Would you rehire	Would you work with them again, and in what role? What would you tell their next manager so they do well?

If a referee answers in general terms, ask for one example: "What did that look like on a normal week?"

How do you tell a lukewarm yes from a real one?

Reference checks reward listening more than asking, because almost every referee says nice things. These are our rules of thumb, not research findings.

What you hear	Lukewarm yes	Real endorsement
Detail	Adjectives such as "great", "solid", "good team player"	A named project, a number, a date or a specific moment
Result	"They did what was asked"	What changed because of them, and the person's own part
Rehire	"Probably", "depends on the role", a pause	"Yes, tomorrow," followed by a role
Weakness	None offered, or only a harmless one	A real gap and how they managed it
Tone	Short answers, fast to end the call	Volunteers examples you did not ask for

A lukewarm answer is not a rejection. It is a prompt to call the second referee, or to ask the first one a follow-up on that exact point.

How do you turn thin spots in your shortlist into questions?

Every finalist has gaps in what you could check before the call. List them first, then ask the referee about each.

Talent Summoner's report gives plain-English reasoning for each candidate against your must-haves and nice-to-haves. A must-have that the public profile does not clearly support becomes a referee question, for example "They list a team lead role; how many people did they manage, and for how long?"

Our posts on an evidence matrix for comparing finalists and evidence trail requirements for hiring decisions cover how to track those gaps across finalists.

What does a reference request email look like?

Send this as soon as the finalist gives you names, so the referee can pick a time. Copy it and change the brackets.

Subject: Reference call for [Candidate name], about 20 minutes

Hi [Referee name],

[Candidate name] has given your name as a reference for a [job title] role at [Company]. We would like to hear about their work with you.

Could we have a 20-minute call this week? I can do [two time options]. What you say is shared only with our hiring team.

Thank you,
[Your name], [Company], [phone]

What goes on a one-page reference record?

Fill one page per referee during the call, then compare the two. Writing down their words, not your summary, is what makes the comparison honest; our interview notes template uses the same idea.

Field	What to write
Candidate, role, date	The finalist and the job
Referee, relationship, dates worked together	Who they are to the candidate and for how long
Scope confirmed?	Yes or no, with any difference from the CV
Best example of results	The referee's own words
Working with others	One example, in their words
Why they left	Their reason, and how it matched the candidate's
Would rehire	Yes, no or maybe, and the exact words
Lukewarm signals	Which rows of the table above you heard
Follow-up needed	Question, owner, date

If you also run structured interviews, our structured interview guide shows how to keep every candidate's evidence in the same shape.

When is a phone reference check wrong for you?

A founder-run call suits one or two hires at a time. It is the wrong tool in two cases.

Regulated roles: if your role or industry requires a formal background check, use a screening provider; a call does not replace it.
High-volume hiring: if you fill many roles, an automated reference-check tool, which sends each referee a form, saves more time than calling, with the candidate's sign-off.

It is also weak when the only referees are friends. Ask for at least one former manager.

Where Talent Summoner fits

Talent Summoner finds and ranks candidates before you reach the reference stage.

Candidate sourcing searches LinkedIn, GitHub and other public sources, over 200 million profiles, and ranks them against your must-haves and nice-to-haves with plain-English reasoning.

Candidate ranking scores up to 50 CVs you already have against your requirements, with plain-English reasoning, free and with no account.

Prices as of 5 October 2026: your first Role is free, then US$29 per Role or US$59 a month for 10 Roles (pricing).

Trade-offs, stated plainly: no paid InMail, no always-on pipeline and no ATS integration today. It does not run, schedule or score reference checks; that part stays with you.

We checked these facts on 5 October 2026 and re-check them every quarter.

Ask scope first, results second and rehire last, and treat a vague yes as a reason to call the second referee.

FAQ

What are good reference check questions?

Good reference check questions ask about scope, results, working with others, why the person left and whether the referee would rehire them. Ask each one with a request for an example, because examples are harder to fake than adjectives.

What is a reference check form?

A reference check form is a one-page record of what a referee said: who they are, what was confirmed, an example of results, why the candidate left, and whether they would rehire. Filling it in during the call lets you compare two referees side by side.

How do you conduct a reference check?

To conduct a reference check, email the referee to book 20 minutes, then follow a fixed script: confirm scope, ask for results and working style, ask why the person left, and ask whether they would rehire. Write down the referee's own words as you go.

What reference check questions should employers ask?

Employers should ask questions about the job: what the person owned, what they delivered, how they worked with others and whether the referee would rehire them. Ask the same questions of every finalist's referees so the answers can be compared.

Is there a reference check email template?

Yes. The template above asks the referee for a 20-minute call, names the role and the candidate, and says answers are shared only with the hiring team.