SkillSurvey recently undertook a large text analytics project that investigated open-ended comments from job references. The examination of 20,000 references reinforced the idea that references for a potential hire should come not only from former managers, but co-workers, as well. In areas of improvement, coworkers most often cited employees as being too helpful, poor at handling stress, perfectionist and working too much. Managers, however, focused on more experience and being more proactive. When considering the strengths of an employee, coworkers named characteristics like friendly, understanding and knowledgeable, while managers listed dependability and ability to work independently. Feedback from both sources proves to offer a complete picture of a job candidate’s prior work performance.
