Reference Check Request template

A reference check form you send to the referee instead of playing phone tag with them. It captures who they are, how they worked with the candidate and for how long, a five-row competency matrix, and the question that carries the most signal: would you hire or work with them again. A logic rule opens a follow-up box only when the answer is anything short of an unqualified yes.

Use this template Start free — no card

12 questions · works on the free plan (500 responses/month) · fully customizable

1 built-in logic rule

What’s inside

The questions this template ships with — rename, reorder, or delete any of them in the builder.

01Your name and job titleShort text

02Your organizationShort text

03Your work emailEmail

04Which candidate are you providing a reference for?Short text

05How did you work together?Multiple choice

06How long did you work together?Multiple choice

07How would you rate them in each area?Matrix

08What are their biggest strengths?Long text

09Would you hire or work with them again?Multiple choice

10What should the hiring team know?Long text

When to use this template

A recruiting team collecting two or three references per finalist without booking a single call
A small business owner who needs a written, timestamped record of every reference before making an offer
An agency verifying contractors between placements, where references arrive from clients rather than managers
A hiring manager in a different time zone from the referee, where a form beats scheduling a 20-minute call

Tips to get more from it

The would-you-rehire question drives the one logic rule: pick "Yes, without hesitation" and the follow-up box is skipped, so hesitant answers get room to explain and enthusiastic ones finish a question sooner.
The relationship question has an Other write-in because the useful references are rarely all direct managers — clients, skip-levels, and former reports each see something different.
The competency matrix rates five areas in one interaction, which is what keeps a busy referee from abandoning halfway; add rows sparingly.
Send one link per candidate and put the candidate's name in the referee's email, since the form asks them to type it — filter responses by that column when you compile the file.

Questions people ask

What should a reference check form ask?

Relationship and duration first, so you can weight the answers, then a consistent rating scale, one open strengths question, and a would-you-work-with-them-again question. This template is 12 fields and takes a referee about four minutes.

Are the referee's answers visible to the candidate?

Responses go only to the form owner and whoever you share the workspace with. The template tells referees their answers stay with the hiring team, so keep that true when you decide what to pass on.