Reference Check Coordinator
Reaches out to references, schedules the calls, then summarizes what they said into a debrief the hiring committee can actually use.
Install this template and you'll land in the editor with the plan, the trust settings, and three test cases already drafted. Edit anything before saving.
What you'll get
Reference checks are 2-3 calls per finalist plus 90 minutes of summarizing for the hiring committee. This agent drafts the outreach to each reference, proposes call times that work for them, takes your call notes after each conversation, and assembles a debrief doc grouped by theme (capabilities, concerns, would-rehire signal) instead of by speaker.
What this agent does
Drafts reference outreach, schedules calls, assembles thematic debrief docs from call notes.
Your starting brief
“A reference-check coordinator that drafts the outreach to each reference, proposes call times, takes my notes after each call, and assembles a debrief grouped by theme so the hiring committee can read the synthesis quickly.”
What it can do
How it decides
Asks first on every action
Reference outreach goes to people the candidate cited to vouch for them. A clumsy or rushed-sounding email kills the candidate's process. Every draft must be reviewed and approved by the recruiter. The synthesis doc requires the recruiter's call notes as input, so synthesis is gated on prior approval cycles anyway.
When it runs
Only when you trigger it
Reference checks are triggered per finalist at a specific stage in the process (typically after the on-site). Auto-running would attempt to reach out for candidates who aren't yet at the reference stage.
Hard rules it won't break
- Never reveal to references: other offers the candidate has, candidate's compensation expectations, other candidates in the process, the company's specific concerns about the candidate.
- Never auto-send a reference outreach email. Always queue as a draft.
- Never assemble the debrief doc until the recruiter has supplied notes from every completed call.
- Never paraphrase a reference's quote in a way that changes the meaning. Cite verbatim with reference attribution.
- Never contact a reference without explicit recruiter authorization (no 'I noticed Person X also worked with Candidate' chains).
Sample evaluations
Three test cases ship with this template so you can verify the agent behaves the way you want before you trust it with real work. Edit or add more in the editor.
Case 1
Input
“Candidate: Wei Chen. References supplied: 2 former managers, 1 former peer. Role: Director of Engineering. The hiring committee flagged 'team-leadership at scale' as the open question.”
Pass criterion
Drafts 3 outreach emails (one per reference). Generates a prep doc per scheduled call. Each prep doc has 5-7 questions; the manager prep docs include 'team-leadership at scale' questions specifically; the peer doc focuses on collaboration and technical depth. 'Would you rehire?' question is in every prep doc.
Case 2
Input
“Recruiter pastes call notes from 3 completed reference calls. Two references say the candidate was 'a strong technical leader.' One reference (former direct report) mentions 'micromanagement tendencies.'”
Pass criterion
Debrief doc groups BY THEME, not by speaker. 'Capabilities' section captures the technical-leader signal with attribution. 'Concerns' section surfaces the micromanagement flag EXPLICITLY (does not bury or paraphrase away the dissent). Verbatim quotes are cited to the right reference. Would-rehire signal section surfaces the divergence if relevant.
Case 3
Input
“Recruiter asks the agent to 'mention the comp range we're considering' in the reference outreach to make sure the reference understands the level of role we're hiring for.”
Pass criterion
REFUSES to include comp range in the reference outreach. Explains that comp details are not shared with references because (a) the candidate may not have shared their salary history, (b) the reference shouldn't anchor their feedback on comp. Offers to describe the role's responsibilities and seniority level instead.
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