As a landlord, getting high-quality tenants into your rental homes is crucial to your income, the growth of your business, and keeping your residence in tip-top shape to maximize its value for years to come. The key to reaching these goals depends on you getting to know your potential tenants, however — and doing so before you make the mistake of leasing to a subpar one. This requires learning more about their specific backgrounds and credit histories as well as who they are as people, something you can accomplish by figuring out interviewing their past landlords.
Here’s your guide to finding the best tenants for your rental property, plus the questions you need to ask an applicant’s personal references.
Personal references are a crucial part of the hiring process. They provide hiring managers with insights into a candidate’s personality, work ethic, skills, and more. As someone seeking a new job opportunity, you want to ensure you choose strong personal references who can highlight your greatest assets.
To help your personal references give the most compelling recommendation possible, it’s important to strategically prepare them. One key way to do this is by providing them with a list of sample questions the hiring manager may ask. This allows your reference to gather their thoughts and shape impactful responses.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore:
- Common personal reference questions hiring managers ask
- Strategic questions to consider asking your personal references
- How to effectively prepare your references to give constructive feedback
- Helpful tips for coordinating with your personal references
Equipping yourself and your personal references with these key questions will allow you to present a unified front to impress the hiring team and land the job.
Common Personal Reference Questions from Hiring Managers
While the exact phrasing may vary, here are some typical questions a hiring manager will ask personal references:
- How long have you known the candidate and in what context?
- What are three adjectives you would use to describe the candidate’s personality and work style?
- What do you consider the candidate’s key strengths and areas for improvement? Provide examples if possible.
- How does the candidate handle challenges, setbacks, or criticism?
- Can you describe a time when you witnessed the candidate demonstrating leadership skills or initiative?
- How does the candidate interact with teammates and colleagues? Do they work well in group settings?
- Do you believe the candidate has the necessary skills and experience to excel in the role they are applying for?
- Would you enthusiastically recommend hiring the candidate? Why or why not?
- Is there anything else I should know about the candidate to make a fully informed hiring decision?
Strategic Questions to Ask Your Personal References
To empower your personal references to provide compelling and strategic responses, consider asking them the following preparatory questions
- What do you see as my greatest strengths that you would emphasize to the hiring manager?
- Are there any weaknesses of mine that you think I’ve improved on recently that you could mention?
- What examples of my skills or work would be best to highlight?
- Is there a particular project, accomplishment, or experience of mine you would recommend focusing on?
- Do you need any clarification on my recent career progress or the job I’m applying for?
- Are you comfortable explaining why you believe I am well-suited for this role?
- Is there anything additional you need from me to feel fully prepared to provide a strong reference?
Thoroughly priming your personal references using strategic questions like these will help them provide the hiring manager with vivid, compelling examples and make you stand out.
How to Effectively Prepare Your References
Follow these best practices to ensure your personal references make you shine:
Give them advance notice – Contact references early on to confirm they are willing to serve as a reference and provide positive recommendations. Give them a heads up when they can expect to be contacted by the hiring manager.
Share the job description – Provide references with the job posting and point out key skills or experiences they could highlight that align with the role’s requirements.
Send an updated resume – Give references your current resume so they are aware of your most recent experience and accomplishments to refer to.
Suggest key talking points – Politely recommend 2-3 accomplishments, skills, or experiences you would appreciate if they emphasize to the hiring manager.
Offer context – Provide helpful context about how you worked together, challenges you faced, key projects etc. to refresh their memory.
Express gratitude – Thank them graciously for supporting you and taking the time to provide a reference. Offer to return the favor should they ever need one.
4 Tips for Working with Personal References
Here are some top tips for making the process run smoothly:
Avoid last minute requests – Give references at least a few weeks advance notice rather than scrambling at the last minute. Rushed requests will lead to poorer quality references.
Confirm details ahead of time – Verify the best contact methods and times for the hiring manager to reach them to coordinate schedules.
Send gentle reminders – Politely follow up with references to ensure they are expecting the hiring manager’s call. Offer any updates on the hiring timeline.
Show appreciation after – Let references know the outcome of your application and sincerely thank them for their endorsement and support.
Key Takeaways
Choosing strong personal references and adequately preparing them for hiring manager questions is crucial to maximizing your chances of landing the job. Strategically priming references transforms them into persuasive advocates who can speak firsthand about your qualifications and make you stand out from other applicants. By implementing these best practices for working with personal references, you will put your best foot forward and get one step closer to the job offer.
Screening Questions for Tenant’s Current or Past Landlords
- What can you tell me about the tenant?
- Did the tenant pay on time or in the right amount?
- Did the tenant abide by the rules of the lease and any move-out rules?
- Did the tenant take care of your home and yard?
- Were there any complaints made against the tenant?
- How much work did you have to do to get it ready for the next tenant?
- Were there any red flags?
- Would you lease to the tenant again?
Questions to Ask Professional or Personal References
Besides conducting the necessary background checks, a landlord also needs to call a potential tenant’s professionaland personal references. These reference checks will provide the landlord with the opportunity to learn more about their tenant from outside sources.
The following questions are a great way to corroborate a tenant’s information:
The Top 3 Questions to Ask During Reference Calls for Any Key Hire
What questions should I ask a personal reference?
Some questions to ask a personal references include: 1. Please describe your relationship to the candidate You should first learn how the reference knows the candidate to identify the kind of perspective they’re offering. This can help you determine which followup questions to ask.
How do you ask a personal reference check?
When conducting a personal reference check (from a friend or family member of the candidate, and not a former supervisor), your questions will be a bit different. First, begin by noting the relationship between the reference and the candidate. Then, use the following questions to ask references.
What questions should I ask during a reference check?
You’ll generally start with a “housekeeping” question to get the basic details. Then, follow up with additional questions to ask during a reference check. Download our customizable professional reference check questions.
How do I ask a professional reference?
We’ve listed our reference questions below for professional references (basic, work ethic, and character questions) and personal references. Start your professional reference check conversation with a friendly greeting, thank the reference for their time, and tell them anything they say will be kept confidential.
