By Kevin Roth

References have now become a two-way street and companies need to prepare accordingly!

In the past week alone, I have spoken with two candidates who have reached out to former employees of a company they were considering joining in order to get a reference on their respective experiences.

With many job seekers finding themselves with multiple opportunities to choose between, they’re going the extra step to ensure that they are making the right decision.

So what does this mean for hiring managers?

Two key takeaways:

1. Make sure you’re leaving things on good terms with any employee who decides to leave your company. Don’t let the pain of losing them cause you to say or do something that you’ll regret. That could come back to hurt you in the long run.
2. Maintain a connection with a few former employees who you could use as a reference if needed. You should be prepared to offer those up in the same way that a job seeker has their references ready to go.

The companies that are most successful in hiring in an ultra-competitive market are the ones that explore every possible opportunity to gain an advantage over the competition.

It is certainly possible you’ll never have a candidate actually take the approach that the two people above did, but as the saying goes; its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.