Your Reference Check Starts Before You Provide Any Referees
One of the uncomfortable truths of executive recruitment: your reference check often starts long before you have provided any referees. In fact, the people you list are rarely the first people anyone calls.
The reference check before the reference check
A senior candidate sits in front of a CEO, board member or another executive. Someone in the room says: "Hang on, did Sarah not work with John back at XYZ?"
Five minutes later, a phone call starts. "What was Sarah actually like?"
That is the first reference check. It happens without forms, without consent, and without the candidate knowing it is happening. We see it constantly.
The information is rarely perfect
Sometimes the person being asked knew the candidate incredibly well. Sometimes they barely knew them at all. Sometimes they are working from something they heard third-hand, years ago, from someone who may have misread the situation.
It does not matter. They formed an opinion. And ten years later, that opinion can suddenly matter.
Maybe they worked together for six months in 2016. Maybe they sat on the same floor for a year. The contact is not the point. The opinion is.
Is it fair? No. Does it happen? Constantly.
Is informal referencing always fair? No. Are there confidentiality considerations? Absolutely. Does that mean executives stop quietly asking other executives about people they know? Not at all.
It is unprofessional. It also happens every day. In a market like Brisbane, where most senior operators have crossed paths at some point, the question is not whether it happens. The question is whether the answer helps you.
Build the account before you need the withdrawal
So always be building genuine relationships. Especially when you do not need anything from anyone.
The executive who says, "I worked with her. She is exceptional. Hire her," carries more weight than any resume or briefing pack. So does the one who says, "I would never work with him again."
Both are brutal. Both are permanent. And neither is on your LinkedIn profile.
Resume vs reputation
Your resume is what you say about your career. You can polish it, refine it, run it through AI until it reads beautifully. That is all yours to control.
Your reputation is what the market says about you when you are not in the room. It is what former colleagues remember when someone asks, "What were they actually like?"
If you are ever going to need another role before you retire, the second one matters more. By a long way.
Thinking about your next executive move?
We work with senior executives across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast on roles that matter. If you are considering your next step, we are always up for a real conversation.
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