I believe HR has at least 26 dirty, little secrets. I’m about to tell you about just one. No. 26 could be as bad or worse than No. 1. I’ll let you decide when I’ve written them all.

So, what is No. 26?

“We check secondary references, without you knowing, all the time!”

First, let me give you the line that 100 percent of all HR pros will give to you and all employees all the time. “We do not give references. We will only give you employment verification, which includes dates of employment. Thank you.”

You’ve heard that, right?

But the dirty, little secret is that we give out references all the time, especially if you’re a terrible employee! We just don't do it publicly.

The chairman of JetBlue Airlines, Joel Peterson, wrote a recent blog post on LinkedIn titled “Top 10 Hiring Mistakes, #5 Lazy Reference Checking, where he gives advice about checking secondary references.

HR gives out references all the time

Secondary references are those references that a candidate didn't give you, but that you have through your own connections.

He said you should always let the candidate know you’ll be checking secondary references so they can reach out and let those people know.

First, thanks for the tip, Joel, but that never happens. Never. Plus, why would I want to give away the one unfiltered piece of the selection process I can get? You don't do that!

Here's the reality: If you interview for a position, you should assume that someone in the organization is checking secondary references behind your back.

It's easy to do. I call up a buddy who works at your current, or old organization, we talk, catch up on our favorite teams, crazy employees we both know, etc. Then, she lets me know if you’re a train wreck or not.

Of course, she also first says, “Tim, you know we can't give references.” Then she says, “Off the record, your candidate is a psychopath!” End of secondary reference.

You think I’m joking? It happens just like that, and it happens every single day.

Don't get me wrong; most of the time, the secondary reference actually comes back positive. You get more of an unfiltered reference than you get by checking the “given references” a candidate provides to you as part of your process.

Given references are completely worthless. I don't even waste my time checking given references. If someone can't find three people who think they walk on water, they’ve got bigger problems.

If you’re going to do “given references” because you can't talk the old white guys in your leadership out of it, because it makes them feel all warm, fuzzy and comfortable, at least talk them into automating this process.

Instant Insights /

HR secret No. 26

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