Reference Check Questions: What Your References Will Be Asked

When do employers check references?

Most employers check references near the end of the process, after the final round and before or alongside the offer. Being asked for references is usually a good sign, since companies don’t spend time calling references for candidates they’ve ruled out.

Some companies ask for names at the application stage and only call them later. Some make the offer “contingent on references”. Either way, the calls tend to happen fast, sometimes within a day of asking, so have your list ready before your final interview. The whole check often takes a few days, most of it spent waiting for references to reply.

Reference checks for senior roles (director, VP, CMO) are often more thorough. Expect more references, more senior ones, and sometimes calls to people you didn’t list, known as backchannel checks. More on those below.

What questions do employers ask references?

Reference checks cover five areas: how the person knows you, what you actually did, how you work with people, where you need support, and whether they’d work with you again. Here are the questions in each, as a hiring manager would ask them for a marketing role.

The relationship

• How do you know [candidate], and for how long did you work together?
• What was their role, and what was yours?
• How closely did you work day to day?

These set how much weight the rest of the answers get. A manager who sat with you every week counts for more than a peer from another office.

The work and results

• What were they responsible for?
• What’s the best piece of work you saw from them? What was the result?
• [Candidate] told us they [led the rebrand / grew organic traffic / ran the launch]. Can you tell me about their part in it?
• How did they decide what to work on, and how did they measure whether it worked?
• How did they handle budget, agencies or vendors?

Expect the reference to be asked to confirm specific claims from your interviews. If you said you led a campaign, they’ll ask what “led” meant. This is why your references need to know what you told the company.

How they work with people

• How did they work with sales, product, creative or finance?
• Tell me about a disagreement they had with a colleague or stakeholder. How did they handle it?
• How did they take feedback?
• (For managers) How did they hire, develop and keep people? Did anyone they managed get promoted?

Strengths and development areas

• What are they best at?
• Where did they need the most support or coaching?
• What kind of manager or environment brings out their best work?
• If you could give them one piece of advice for this role, what would it be?

Almost every reference check asks some version of the weakness question. A reference who says “nothing, they’re perfect” sounds less credible than one who names a real development area and what you did about it. The way you answer what are your weaknesses in interviews should roughly match what your references say.

The closing questions

• Why did they leave, or why are they looking?
• Would you hire them again or work with them again?
• Is there anything else I should know?

“Would you hire them again?” is the one hiring managers listen to most closely. An instant, specific yes is what you want. A pause, or “for the right role”, gets noticed.

For senior marketing roles

Director, VP and CMO reference checks add questions about scope and judgment:

• How big was the team and budget they ran? How did they decide where to spend?
• How did they present to the executive team or board? How did the CEO and CFO see them?
• How did they explain marketing’s effect on revenue?
• What’s a call they made that turned out wrong, and what did they do next?
• How did they change the team they inherited?

What can’t a reference legally be asked?

In the US, questions that dig for protected characteristics have no place in a reference call any more than in an interview. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s page on prohibited employment practices lists those characteristics (race, color, religion, sex, including pregnancy, sexual orientation and transgender status, national origin, age 40 or older, disability and genetic information). It says pre-employment questions should be limited to what’s needed to judge whether someone is qualified, that employers may not ask about disability before an offer, and that it’s illegal to give a negative or false reference, or refuse one, because of a protected characteristic.

Separately, many companies have a policy that HR only confirms your dates of employment and job title, and that managers shouldn’t give references at all. People often give personal references anyway, as long as they’re speaking for themselves. If a former manager can’t, choose someone else from that job rather than leave a gap.

How do you choose the right references?

Choose people who saw your recent best work up close and will talk about it with specifics. A former manager who knows your results is worth more than a senior name who barely remembers you.

A typical set of three for a marketing role:

How to pick:

• Match the references to the job. Applying for a brand role? Pick the person who saw your brand work, not the one from your paid media years.
• Recent beats senior. The last two or three years carry the most weight.
• Your current employer is optional. Most hiring managers understand if you can’t list your current boss. Say so up front and offer someone from a previous role instead, or someone who has left your current company.
• Pick colleagues, not friends and family. Personal references don’t count, and listing them suggests you couldn’t find anyone else.

How do you prepare your references?

Ask each person before you give out their name, then send them a short brief on the role and what you’d like them to speak to. A prepared reference gives specific answers; an unprepared one gives warm but vague ones.

1. Ask first, and give them an easy way out. “Would you feel comfortable being a reference?” lets someone lukewarm decline.
2. Send the job description and a line on why you want the role.
3. Remind them of two or three specific things you did together, with the results, so they don’t have to dig through memory on the call.
4. Tell them what came up in your interviews. If the hiring manager pushed on how you work with sales, your reference should be ready to talk about it.
5. Tell them who’ll call and when, and check how they prefer to be reached.
6. Thank them, and tell them how it turned out.

Template: asking someone to be a reference

Adapt the wording to how you normally talk to this person. A former manager will hear a template a mile away, and a warm, personal ask in your own voice makes saying yes feel easy.

Subject: Would you be a reference for me?

Hi [Name],

I hope you're well. I'm in the final stages for a [Role] position at [Company], and they've asked for references.

Would you feel comfortable being one? You saw my work on [project] more closely than anyone, and that's the experience most relevant to this role. If now's not a good time, no problem at all.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Template: briefing a reference

Subject: Reference for [Company]: what to expect

Hi [Name],

Thank you again for agreeing to this. [Hiring manager's name], [their title], may call or email in the next [few days]. Your number is [number]; let me know if you'd prefer email.

The role: [Role], leading [one line on scope]. The job description is attached.

It would help most if you could speak to:
- [Project 1], where we [result].
- How I worked with [team, e.g. the sales team] on [thing].
- [Anything they raised in interviews, e.g. how I manage agencies.]

They may also ask about areas I've worked on. I'd say [honest development area], and I've been working on it by [what you did].

Thank you for doing this. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Your name]

Don’t script what they say. Remind them of facts, then trust them.

Template: reference list

Send this as a separate document when asked, one entry per reference.

References for [Your name]

[Name], [Title], [Company]
Relationship: [their role and yours, e.g. my manager at Company, 2022 to 2025]
[Email], [Phone]

How do you answer reference check questions as a reference?

Answer with specific examples you saw yourself, name one real development area and give a clear answer to “would you hire them again”. If your employer limits references to dates and title, check the policy first and say if you’re speaking personally.

What was [Name]'s biggest contribution?
"[Name] rebuilt our [email program / launch process]. Before, [the problem]; after, [the result]. I saw it closely because [your role]."

Where did they need support?
"Early on, [a real development area, e.g. pushing back on senior stakeholders]. They worked on it by [what they did], and by [time] [how it showed]."

Would you hire them again?
"Yes, without hesitation, especially for [type of role], because [one reason]."

Keep answers short and factual. If you can’t speak to something, say so rather than guess; it makes the rest of what you say more credible.

What are backchannel reference checks?

A backchannel check is a call to someone who knows you but isn’t on your list, such as a former colleague the hiring manager knows. They’re common for senior marketing roles and in smaller industries where people know each other.

You can’t stop them, but you can prepare:

• Assume they’ll happen for director roles and above.
• If there’s someone who might give a mixed account, say so before the check. A calm line in the final round ("My old CFO and I disagreed on budget; here’s what happened") does more good than a surprise.
• Keep your record consistent. Backchannel checks mostly catch differences between what a candidate said and what others remember. If your claims are accurate, there’s little to find.

If your current employer doesn’t know you’re looking, you can ask the company not to contact anyone there. Most will respect it.

What if a reference check goes badly?

A lukewarm reference is usually recoverable. If you hear one was lukewarm, ask the recruiter directly what concern came up and offer another reference who can speak to it. Recruiters will sometimes tell you, and an extra reference can settle a doubt.

Delays after reference checks are common and don’t always mean bad news; it’s often just people being hard to reach. The how to follow up after an interview guide covers when to check in. Once references are done, the offer usually follows, so read salary negotiation before the call.

FAQ

How many references do you need?

Three is the usual number. Senior roles sometimes ask for more, and occasionally want a mix of a manager, a peer and someone you managed.

Do employers always call references?

Not always. The more senior the role, the more likely the calls, and the more of them there are. Prepare as if they will.

Can I use a former colleague instead of a manager?

Yes, if they worked closely with you and can speak to your results. Have at least one person who supervised you if you can, since most employers will want that view.

Should I put references on my resume?

No. Leave them off, along with “references available on request”, and keep them ready as a separate list with names, titles, how you know them, and contact details.

What is an online reference check?

Some employers send references an online questionnaire instead of calling. It covers the same ground, usually as ratings plus a few short written answers. Brief your references the same way, and warn them to look out for the email so it doesn’t sit unanswered.

What should I do after my references are called?

Thank each reference and tell them the outcome, whatever it is. You’ll likely need them again.