Reference Checks
Combine the best of employment verification and professional reference checks in one package.
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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.
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.
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
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FAQs
Find answers to common questions about our reference checks and processes.
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.
The purpose of a reference check is to verify information on a candidate’s CV and gain additional insights into their working habits, skills, past performance, and character that didn’t come up during the interview process. Good reference checks help hiring managers identify candidate red flags before their start date and help make informed hiring decisions.
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
Yes, our employee background screening software can integrate with your existing ATS or HRIS platforms. We currently integrate with over 14 ATS platforms such as iCims, SmartRecruiters, and Workable, for seamless processing of education checks. Find our full list of integrations here.
Loved by the customers and candidates
Philip Stephens
People Operations Specialist
Claire Jackson
Compliance Coordinator
Marlen Gfrörer
Staff Onboarding
Alex Pazik
Safeguarding Manager
Craig McElroy
Talent Acquisition Manager
Smitha Sanjeev
People Operations
Swetha Sundaram
Head of HR
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