Reference Checks

Combine the best of employment verification and professional reference checks in one package.

Trusted & loved by

Why conduct a reference check?

Reference checks help verify previous employment data and provide a deeper understanding of candidate abilities and working styles, so you can give them a smooth onboarding. Impress your HR and compliance teams with verified employee insights and save precious time in the recruitment cycle.

At Zinc, we offer a packaged reference check that we call Unified Referencing. This combines the best of traditional professional references with regulatory and employment verification checks, ensuring you get the most comprehensive insights on your candidates.

“The references are so straightforward. That was a very manual process for me previously, sending them off and chasing them. They're coming back really fast and it all seems to be working really well.”
Lauren Small
HR & Payroll Manager
Speed up your recruitment process

Automations that save weeks of hiring time

Write customisable questions and leave Zinc to automatically follow up with referees to reduce delays and make faster hiring decisions. Zinc automatically flags date and job title mismatches and marked keywords for inspection.

Reduce risk

Global data at your fingertips

We verify employment data across a range of global sources, giving you all the information you need to support confident, diverse hiring. For UK candidates, we verify employment history against HMRC data, returning accurate results in seconds.

How it works

Reference checks should be easy for candidates and referees. Our process ensures everyone has a delay-free referencing experience, improving your company’s reputation:

Candidates provide referee information and employment dates.

Zinc collects and validates reference information through automated emails to referees and direct HMRC verification.

Once complete, reference check notifications are sent to your inbox and ATS.

Explore our features

Check features
Automated checks
Collect instant employment verification data and unique insights from referees
ATS integrations
Integrate our checks into your ATS or HRIS.
Global coverage
Zinc handles global complexity, checking your candidate's wherever they work.
Tailored packages
Curate a checking package for specific countries or regulation. Or have one globally consistent range of checks.
Simple and secure
Simple and secure checks, helping you make safer hiring decisions.
Elevated experiences
Custom brand your candidate's flows and choose light or dark mode. Candidate's can easily submit checks from any device.
Benefits
Compliant
Fully compliant with Global & EU law.
Tier 1 registered with the ICO.
Integrations
Direct ATS integrations. Get in touch and we'll set you up for free.
Support
Instant live chat support from the Zinc team around the clock.
Robust
Robust service that's relied upon by regulated businesses globally.

FAQs

Find answers to common questions about our reference checks and processes.

What advanced features are available?

Zinc offers a range of advanced features available across all reference types. These include:

  • Flexi-requirements to clear candidates faster with Zinc’s accept one less
  • Reference data scanning for matching values to flag keywords or phrases
  • Extensive template library for custom question sets with scale, multiple choice and yes/no question types
  • Toggle to make question sets compulsory or optional
  • Unified reference checks to simultaneously run professional, regulatory and employment verification checks
What is a reference check?

A reference check is one of the most common types of background check. It typically involves contacting a candidate’s previous employers or professional contacts to verify their work history, job titles, and sometimes their skills. A reference check helps to ensure the candidate has represented themselves truthfully and reduces the risk of a poor hire.

Can your software integrate with our existing ATS or HRIS platforms for seamless processing of reference checks?

Yes, our reference screening software can seamlessly integrate with your existing ATS or HRIS platforms. Zinc currently integrates with over 14 ATS platforms including Greenhouse, Workday, and Workable, for stress-free reference check processing. Discover our full list of integrations here.

Loved by the customers and candidates

“I can’t fault Zinc really, for me it’s been a seamless process even with changing the integrations from Workable to Greenhouse it’s been easy. As a team when it comes to the process we don’t even have to think about it really, which is a good thing.”

Philip Stephens

People Operations Specialist

“Zinc is coming up with new ways to improve the experience such as allowing the HMRC check to be completed alongside regulatory references, a game changer when ensuring a candidate's work history is accounted for. All in all, a great experience so far!”

Claire Jackson

Compliance Coordinator

“The Zinc team comes with ideas that brings it to the next level. I really appreciate that there is a willingness to develop and make changes. It's quick and it just happens. It's so difficult to find other partners that have that have that same mindset. For me that's the most important thing that you actually want to hear what we're saying and adapt to our ways of thinking.”

Marlen Gfrörer

Staff Onboarding

“I needed something that I could rely on to do thorough background checks. You can't cut corners on recruitment in education. If you can't do the safeguarding at recruitment, then you're letting unsafe people into the organisation. I needed something that I could depend on, and I’m 100% confident Zinc is that.”

Alex Pazik

Safeguarding Manager

“We have been using Zinc for nearly 2 years now and it has made a world of difference with our onboarding. Zinc saves us a huge amount of time, takes the admin off our team along with having all the references in one place. We can click a button and everything is done for us, we will never go back to manual reference checking”

Craig McElroy

Talent Acquisition Manager

“Being FCA regulated we have no room for error with our checks. Zinc is our go-to for DBS & RTW checks with lightning fast turn-around times, zero admin, and maintaining a best in class candidate experience”

Smitha Sanjeev

People Operations

“Zinc is brilliant! It takes a big burden off us by handling reference follow-ups and chasing. Plus, the integration with PinPoint works great! It’s simple and easy to use for new hires and employers alike, and the chat is really useful too. Being 100% compliant with our client’s background verification requirements gives me peace of mind and keeps us feeling on top of our game!”

Swetha Sundaram

Head of HR