Reference Check Email Template: How to Contact a Reference

A good reference check email is short, names the candidate and the role, explains what you are asking, offers a choice of a quick call or written replies, lists two to five specific questions, and says how the answers will be used. Send it only after the candidate has agreed to the contact, and follow up once if you hear nothing.

Before you send anything

Ask the candidate for two or three referees who have worked with them directly, ideally a manager and a peer or client, and ask what each person's relationship was. Confirm that the candidate is happy for you to contact them. Check the referee's details, and avoid contacting a current employer unless the candidate has agreed.

A template you can use

Subject: Reference request for [Candidate name]. Hello [Name], [Candidate name] has applied for the [role] at [company] and has named you as someone who can speak to their work. Could you spare 15 minutes for a call, or reply in writing to the questions below? 1. How did you work together, and for how long? 2. What did they do best? 3. Where would they most benefit from support or growth? 4. How did they handle a disagreement or a setback? 5. Would you work with them again, and why? What you say is used only to help with this hiring decision. Thank you, [your name], [company].

Ask for specifics, not opinions

Questions about what the person did, in which situation, and with what result produce more useful answers than "were they good?". Listen for concrete examples. Vague praise and long pauses are both worth noting, but do not treat one cautious answer as proof of a problem.

Make it easy to reply

Offer a call or written replies, keep to five questions or fewer, and give a date. A short email that takes ten minutes to answer gets more replies than a long form. One polite follow-up after a few days is reasonable.

Use the answers fairly

Compare what you hear with the evidence from the CV and interviews, and give the candidate a chance to respond to anything surprising. Keep notes factual and store them with the candidate's record, shared only with those involved in the decision.

In Rezumz

Rezumz has a check question writer that writes questions for a call with a past manager for the role you are hiring, with what a real answer sounds like, and can email them to the interviewer making the call. In the background checks tracker, add a reference from a past employer to a candidate and Rezumz writes this kind of request email for you to copy, with your saved questions included if you choose. You then move the check from not started to in progress, then done or failed, with notes.