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Leadership
Skill 5 of 5

Check References and Close Honestly

References and the close are the last places a hire can be made on accurate information. Ask references the same behavior-based questions and reach the people who saw the candidate work, not only their chosen advocates, then close on a straight account of the role, its hard parts, the pay, and the tradeoffs. A reference asked only for praise gives only praise, and a candidate closed on an oversold role tends to leave within the year. An honest preview means the person accepts the job that actually exists.

Proficiency Level

This is a preview of how skill assessment works in Admire

Measurable Behaviors

Behaviors are optimized to be directly observable for evidence-based skill tracking.

Ask references structured, behavior-based questions

Asks every reference the same behavior-based questions tied to role skills, pressing for specific situations over a general endorsement.

Give a realistic preview of the role's hard parts

Gives the candidate a straight preview of the role's hard parts before they accept, so they decide on the real job.

Present pay and expectations without overselling

Presents pay, expectations, and tradeoffs plainly and answers hard questions directly rather than overselling the role.

Reach references who directly managed or worked with them

Reaches references who directly managed or worked alongside the candidate, not only the advocates the candidate picked.

Standardize the reference and closing process

Standardizes the reference and closing steps into one process every candidate goes through the same way.

This is a preview of how behavior tracking works in Admire

What Mastery of References and Closing Looks Like

References are reached by role, weighted by how closely they saw the work, and asked the same behavior-based questions tied to the job's skills. The close gives a straight preview of the hard parts and presents pay and tradeoffs without overselling, and the whole process is standardized so who advances and who accepts does not depend on which manager ran it.

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