In-Depth References

In-depth References:

Getting Past Name, Rank, and Serial NumberLaura Gassner Otting

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Laura Gassner OttingPresident,

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In-Depth References: Getting Past Name, Rank, and Serial Number

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Good hiring demands deep understanding of the real person, not just the candidate who shows up on interview day.

If you are stymied in your pursuit of the real story, learn how experienced executive recruiters use reference checks (on and off the list) to build a complete candidate profile.

LAURA GASSNER OTTING, Founder and President

Nonprofit ProfessionalsAdvisory Group

About Us


The Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group was founded from the simple notion that every organization, regardless of its budget or geographic footprint can better fulfill its mission with a highly-tailored, innovative, and strategic approach to acquiring and retaining its most important resource: talent.

Designed to operate with ‘new economy’ savvy, the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group unbundles traditional executive search and leadership transition packages and offers sophisticated services tailored to our clients’ various needs. We are committed to passing along our knowledge throughout our process so that our clients’ internal capacity and independence is enhanced.

We work worldwide with mission-driven client organizations in the nonprofit, academic, and public sectors, as well as with the job seekers who serve them. For organizations, we offer executive search and leadership transition services. For candidates, we provide leadership development, job search strategy creation, and resume/cover letter assistance. For both organizations and candidates, we supply professional and organizational development in person through our customized training programs and online with our groundbreaking, complimentary “NPAG U” webinar series.

Our team members are personally dedicated to our clients’ missions and together offer more than 40 years of executive search experience in addition to the wealth of perspective, expertise, and networks they offer from previous careers in the nonprofit, academic, public, political, and private sectors.

Laura Gassner OttingAbout

Us


Laura Gassner Otting is Founder and President of the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, a retainedexecutive search firm dedicated to building the capacity of nonprofit organizations, associations, institutions of higher education, the public sector and the professionals who make them run smoothly.

Prior to forming the group, Laura served as the senior vice president of ExecSearches.com and as vice president at Isaacson, Miller, one of the largest search firms in New England.

Laura served as a presidential appointee for the White House Office of National Service and a program officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, where she was part of the team that created the AmeriCorps, and as a member of the Clinton/Gore Transition Team and 1992 Election Team. She holds a Master of Arts in Political Management from the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Texas at Austin.

Laura serves on the boards of College Bound Dorchester, AmeriCorps Alums, and the Eli J. Segal Citizen Leadership Program at Brandeis University, and is the Clerk and Governance Chair of the board of Newton Montessori School. She has served as a member of the board of Camp Starfish and the Alumni Board of the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University and as the founding board chair of both Strong Women, Strong Girls and the Boston Choral Ensemble. Laura is the author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector and is widely quoted for her expertise in mission-driven work in publications including The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Money magazine.

Laura can be reached at 617-527-9661 or [email protected].

Understanding the MixThe

Formula


References are:

Complete Picture

Laser In

Listen Well

Establish Trust

Two Parts Art

One Part Science

Getting the Full PictureIdentifyTargets


Who do you interview?

A Series of Conversations During a Single Call

Opening Up


Establishment of Trust

Understanding of the Context

An Exploration of Professional and Personal Fit

Investigation of Challenges

The Questions

Establishment of TrustThe

Warm Up


Getting the Reference Talking

The point of the reference is to get both the good and the bad news about a

candidate. Confirming the positives is only part of the job; similarly, eliciting only

weaknesses doesn’t tell the whole story. Provide a reference a certain level of

comfort by ensuring confidentiality, and then drawing out positives and good

experiences first. Even if you hear a negative early in a call, spend some time talking

about strengths before circling back to the weakness, lest the reference fear that he is

undermining the candidate’s chances and get nervous and shut down.

Understanding of the ContextKnow

the Story


Understanding of the Context, including

referee’s professional background and how long

and in what capacity the referee has known the

candidate, allows the caller to move

chronologically through the referee’s experience

with the candidate to gather specific examples

of challenges and/or successes which might

inform our understanding of the candidate.

Exploration of FitTrack

Records


The Exploration of Professional and Person Fit, uses the challenges

section of the position description as a guide to seek information about the

candidate’s past performance which can inform future performance and potential

fit to the current position.

Bring your opinions or those of the hiring

manager or committee to the reference and

ask him or her to agree or disagree with the

statements. These questions can be

statements expressed by the hiring

committee, or just another method of

engaging the reference.

Always calibrate the words of a reference.

Push your references to give you specifics,

to separate the good candidates from the

ones who can move mountains.

Investigation of ChallengesMore

Details


An Investigation of Challenges, will round out the picture and make every

effort to understand where the candidate would need support or professional

development to succeed in the role.

Many references get off too easy, describing candidates in single

word adjectives like smart, savvy and determined or bossy,

difficult and opinionated. These descriptions are helpful,

but they don’t give nearly enough information with which a

hiring manager can make a decision.

Getting to the anecdotes requires a bit of pushiness and

a lot of listening. Ask for stories with questions about the

most controversial issue in which the candidate was

involved, a time when the candidate had to fire someone

or take a personal stand, or what the candidate has

learned from the reference or vice versa.

“The Questions”The Dirt


Every reference is closed with two formal

questions read verbatim:

“Is there anything else we need to know which

would prove embarrassing to the candidate or the

client if it were to become public?”

“To your knowledge, has this individual ever been

accused of or involved in any inappropriate conduct,

and examples of inappropriate conduct could

include malfeasance, misfeasance, drug abuse,

alcohol abuse, sexual harassment, or anything of

that nature that could affect his/her performance in a

highly public role?”

Hear What Isn’t SaidThe Trick


References tend to spend as much time considering

what not to say as they spend wondering what to

say.

Listen very carefully to the inflection in a voice, the

tone of a word or the pauses in between sentences,

a quieter tone, jokes, word choices, hesitations,

flatness, effusive admiration.

Even better, when you think the reference done

speaking, wait a few beats before your next

question; references nervous about what they aren’t

saying will fill the silence with exactly the words they

meant not to say.

Private InvestigationTurning

Over Rocks


Resources


NPAG’s Article Library:

Hiring a Track Record: More Informative

Reference Checks

Reference Checks: Questions to Ask

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In-Depth References

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