Editor's note: This is a contributed piece by Ray Bixler, president and CEO of SkillSurvey, an online reference checking technology firm that harnesses the power of references to help organizations ...

Reference checks should be initiated for all final candidates prior to recommending a candidate for the position. Obtain several professional references for each candidate under serious consideration.

Ask hiring managers if they enjoy conducting candidate reference checks and you are likely to see a lot of eye rolling. But, in a time when candidates cannot be accepted at face-value alone, the need ...