Reference Script

Callouts in blue contain the lines the reference taker should speak. Instructions are the plain text on white background.

Thank you very much for providing a reference for [candidate]. The format is a structured interview, so I will ask you a set of pre-determined questions. This interview is confidential and no record of its contents will be kept once our offer is accepted or rejected. May I record?

If they decline to be recorded,

• Take notes for the Relationship questions

• Skip to the closer questions

If they agree,

• turn on recording and then say out loud for the recording: “Great- thank you, I’m now recording.”

Cadence OneFive is a pre-seed climate-tech SaaS serving the multifamily real estate market. We are hiring [Position] for the company, who will be charged with [one-line job description].

If they ask for more details about the company (size of team, etc.), say:

I’m happy to provide those details after going through our structured interview if we have time, to make sure we’re able to make the most of our time together.

If they STILL push back, say:

We’d love to get your responses without having the response be tailored to the specifics of our company as it is today – we’re a growing company and will maintain relationships we value for the future. We’ve been very impressed with [candidate] and want to get to know more about them while we have you.

And if they STILL push back: thank them for their time and ask them if they would like to defer providing the reference.

Opener: Relationship

I’d like to start with some questions for context:

1. How did you meet?

2. Tell me about your professional relationship.

3. Tell me about your personal relationship.

4. Regarding your professional relationship, on a scale of 1 to 5, where

   1 means “I worked with him enough to have an opinion” and where 5 means “We worked so closely, I could complete his sentences,” how do you rate how close you were WHEN you worked together?

5. Regarding your personal relationship, on a scale of 1 - 5 where 1 is “I never see him socially” to 5 is “he is a close personal friend,” how do you rate the closeness of your personal relationship TODAY?

Candidate-specific Questions

Questions coming out of the pre-reference check hiring committee meeting go here.

AND

Is there anything else about [candidate] that you’d like us to know?

Closer: Bottom-line Questions

If the person giving the reference has managerial experience:

Approximately how many people have you personally hired (ball-park) during your career? Looking back on all the hires, at what percentile does [candidate] fall? E.g. top 20%, top 5% etc.

AND one of the below:

If the position is a senior or key-hire position:

If you were the founder of a startup today, would [candidate] be one of your first 10 hires?

Otherwise:

If you could hire [candidate] again to work for you, would you do so?

And:

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide this reference. You’ve been very helpful!