When you have a business, making sure that you hire the ideal worker out of all applicants is crucial. However, you may find that you have to spend a lot of time sorting through potential hires, and after successful interviews, you need to spend even more time calling each reference listed on the applications.

Because of this, you may be looking into utilizing an automated system that contacts the references and collects information from them. While shopping around for a system that will best serve your company's needs, there are a couple of features for which you should look to ensure that you choose one that fully streamlines the process.

1.  Gives You the Option to Add as Many Personalized Questions as You Need 

One feature for which you should look when deciding on which automated platform to use for checking new hire references is the ability to add as many questions as you need. All of the platforms send each reference a list of questions that they need to answer about the former employee. 

However, some platforms have standard questions that either do not allow you to add your own or limit the number of personalized questions. You should choose a system that lets you add as many questions as you need, especially if you want information about specific skill sets and/or personality traits.

2.  Provides Clear, Data-rich Reports after All References Have Been Received

Another feature that will help you immensely when you are gathering information from multiple references for a large number of potential employees is a clear, data-rich report system. While all systems give reports, some may have spreadsheets for each person, requiring you to flip through multiple pages.

When looking at the reporting system, you want one that will compile all information into one spreadsheet. This allows you to compare the answers to the questions from the references as well as quickly find candidates that are a good match for your company's position.

Using an automated system to contact and gather information from potential employees can help save you time during the hiring process, especially if the platform that you utilize allows you to ask all of the questions you need answers to. The system should also give you easy-to-read reports so you can compare all of the new hires at once. Speak with a representative with a company that offers automated reference checking platforms to learn more about available features designed to help make the hiring process easier.