Reference Checks: Terms and Conditions
What is the process? You provide us with your reference's contact information by completing an online form, choose the questions you want asked, and make payment. Someone will contact and interview your reference telling him that she found your resume posted at an Internet career website and thinks you would be a good candidate for several positions, but she needs to check your employment history before recommending you to clients. If your reference agrees to be interviewed you will be sent a transcript of the interview by email. This transcript will be sent to the same email address you use to make payment.
How long does the process take? If your reference can be interviewed right away you could receive a transcript of the conversation by e-mail the same day you ordered the service. But often, it takes a day or two to get in touch with your reference. If your reference can't be interviewed right away, our reference checker will continue to try and make contact over a two week period and will send you email updates every few days so that you know what's going on and why you haven't received a report.
Is there any way that my reference can find out that I'm behind the call?
No, there is not. The name of this website is never mentioned or the fact that you're behind it. If we have to leave a message asking the reference to contact us, his caller I.D. will reveal the name of a company not affiliated with this website.
Who should I use as a reference? Employers will always want to talk to those who have been your supervisors for the last 5 to 10 years and are likely to contact these employers regardless of whom you list as a reference on your employment application once you give them written permission to do so. It would be a waste of your money to ask us to interview anyone other than a present or former supervisor who can attest to your work performance over the last 10 years. Use older references or co-workers only if you have no other choice, for example, if you've been a homemaker for the last ten years.
What questions will be asked? Your reference will be asked the questions you select from the menu of 20+ questions on the order form.
Is the conversation recorded? It depends on which state your reference lives in. Twelve states have made it illegal to record a telephone conversation without all parties' consent: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington. It is legal to record a conversation in the other 38 states as long as one party to the conversation gives consent. The conversation with your reference is recorded unless your reference lives in one of the 12 states listed above that bans the practice without both parties' consent. Copious shorthand notes are taken during the interview or by keyboarding your reference's responses into a computer as they are stated. Over 90 percent of the time, an exact transcript of the conversation is available since most people speak slowly enough to enable the conversation to be keyboarded as it occurs.
Do you provide sworn affidavits, depositions and legal testimony if I should decide to sue over negative statements said about me? No, we do not provide sworn affidavits or notarized documents. In many states, such conversations are not admissible as evidence in court. If you decide you want to take legal action because a former supervisor made negative statements about you, take the report we give you to an attorney and if she thinks you have a case, she will tell you if there is enough evidence to file suit and she will gather the necessary evidence in compliance with the laws in your state. If you have already filed suit against an employer DO NOT USE OUR SERVICE TO GATHER EVIDENCE FOR COURT as we do not provide sworn testimony and our evidence might be considered in your state to be hearsay evidence (which is not admissible in court). If you have a pending lawsuit against an employer, you need to use a service that specializes in gathering evidence for attorneys.
What is the cost? The cost is $79.00 per reference check. This fee is non-refundable; however, you may substitute the name of a second reference if your first choice cannot be interviewed. We recommend that you contact your reference and ask them for permission to use them as a reference before ordering our service. Not only is doing this considered to be common business courtesy, it will help them give you a better reference. They might inform you that they are prohibited from giving out any information about you per company policy. Some companies adopt a "say nothing" policy to protect themselves from lawsuits and get a lower insurance rate. These companies will only verify job title and work dates and will say absolutely nothing else about employees.
If you do not want to contact your reference directly because you did not have a good relationship with him or her, you should call the company's Human Resource department and ask them if supervisors are allowed to discuss the job performance of employees. Make sure that the employer hasn't outsourced the employment verification process to a third party, such as http://www.theworknumber.com. You should do this before ordering our service because the $79.00 fee is non-refundable.
If you can't interview my reference do I receive a refund? No. The fee for this service involves preparing for the interview and trying to contact your reference. Please read the paragraph above. If your reference cannot be interviewed right away, our checker will spend two weeks trying to contact him or her. If our checker discovers that your reference isn't going to work out after a phone call or two, you are allowed to substitute the name of a second reference. Keep in mind that if your reference cannot be interviewed your money is not totally wasted as you have discovered that the reference is not available for interviews and/or does not return phone calls so you should give the name of another person as a reference in the future.
How do I order a reference check? Fill out an online order form, select the questions you want asked, and make payment. Order now.
