When the referee is a sole trader on Gmail
Plenty of good references come from someone who runs their own business and writes from a personal address. We check fewer things on those, and we say so on the report rather than showing a pass we didn’t earn. Here’s what still works, and how to get more out of it.
What still works
We remind the referee for you
Up to three reminders in the first week, so you are not ringing round. If nobody replies, the report says so.
The candidate agrees first
No referee is contacted until your candidate has given consent, and the report records when they did.
We compare the dates
The candidate gives their dates; the referee gives theirs. When the two disagree, the report shows both.
The referee answers in their own words
A short questionnaire on how the candidate worked and whether they would employ them again, with the answers in the report.
What we can’t check on a personal address
No company to look up
A sole trader usually isn’t on Companies House. The report says the employer couldn’t be checked this way, in grey, not as a problem.
No work domain to check
On a personal address the domain belongs to Google or Microsoft, not the referee, so its age and owner say nothing. The report says these checks don’t apply.
We don’t confirm the referee works where they say they do, on any address. The report shows what we checked and what we couldn’t, so you can decide whether to pick up the phone.
Getting the most out of it
- Ask your candidate for a referee’s work email if they have one. A firm’s own address gives us a domain and a company to check against.
- If the referee runs a limited company, ask for the company name as it’s registered. That’s what we look up on Companies House.
- Ask for two referees rather than one. Two replies that agree with each other, and with the candidate’s dates, tell you more than one.
- Read the answers, not just the colours. The referee’s own words about reliability and work are in the report.
Your report arrives as soon as the references you asked for are in, and never more than 14 days after the candidate agrees.