Launch HN: Searchlight (YC W19) – Hiring based on past performance, not resumes

Re:Launch HN: Searchlight (YC W19) – Hiring based on past pe... by onion2k on Thursday February 28, 2019 @02:52PM (#19274467)

Here in the UK, while it's not actually illegal to give someone a bad reference, no employer does because an inaccurate reference is grounds for legal action. You have to be able to provide evidence for everything you say. Consequently lots of employers only provide the dates you worked from and to and what your final salary was.

The fallout from someone not getting hired because the "honest downsides" were a bit too honest (or not honest enough) would not be pretty.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Launch HN: Searchlight (YC W19) – Hiring based on past pe... by fhbdukfrh on Thursday February 28, 2019 @03:19PM (#19274721)

This is true everywhere in the sense that there's absolutely no upside to giving someone a bad references. About all you can do for someone terrible is confirm factual data and refuse to comment on any opinion based questions. The requester can't even interpret that as a negative endorsement because lots of companies only do the same thing for good candidates.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Launch HN: Searchlight (YC W19) – Hiring based on past pe... by annawangx on Thursday February 28, 2019 @03:39PM (#19274958)

Thanks for that perspective. This is a challenge for reference checks in general, and we are cognizant about the legal implications as we develop our product.

[ Parent | on HN ]