Post-reference check interview request: Common practice or red flag?
Hey y'all!
I've been interviewing for a startup. I'm in the reference check step. This was supposed to be the last step before getting an offer, but they wanted to interview me again to (paraphrasing) dive deeper into topics they hadn't had the chance to ask before.
This feels odd to me; from previous experiences, the reference check is the final step before getting an offer. They also said this in my email after passing the "final interview": they needed to do a reference check before extending an offer.
Question:
- Do you consider this to be a red flag from them?
- Should I be worried?
- Would it be okay to ask upfront what's concerning and take it from there?
- Is this common? This is the first time this has happened to me (I've had 5+ jobs).
Thanks!
Discussion
(3 comments)- 1a month agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]Series C startup
Hey!
I'm just following up here. I didn't get the job in the end, which was a bit frustrating as the process took months to complete, but, they gave me feedback about their decision, and I'm already internalizing it to get better chances to land a new role in the future!
Thanks for your support! ♥️
- 0
2 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroRed flag seems a bit extreme, but it's definitely weird. My understanding is the same as yours: Once companies ask for references, you've generally passed the core interview loop and it's more of a final sanity check/formality.
If you want to, you can politely reach out, quote what they said about the reference coming after the final interview, and see what's going on from there. However, I don't think there's much to gain as companies have all the leverage in this market, and I doubt they'll say "Whoopsies, we made a mistake, here's your offer!".
My guess is there's another candidate that did well, and they want another round to tie-break. Given the current market, this seems highly plausible.
Lastly, you haven't given any references yet right? Because if you have, maybe one of your references didn't have the best things to say about you? In that case, you should think through your references and see if you should drop any of them.
- 1
2 months agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]Series C startupHey Alex, thanks for your response!
The other candidate theory sounds plausible, yes.
And yes, they already talked to my two references (former EM and former PM). I don’t think they have anything negative to say about me at all, we had a great++ relationship and we managed to ship multiple projects together successfully.
Thank you!
