Companies are leaning on “backdoor” references more than ever as candidates use AI tools to polish resumes and prepare for virtual interviews, The Wall Street Journal reported June 10.
While backdoor references — inquiries about a candidate made to someone not on their reference sheet — have long played a role in hiring, especially for senior roles, their use is growing as employers seek candid human insight they can’t get from AI-polished application materials.
“They’ve become a lot more important,” Mark Toscano, a recruiter for MSPA Americas, told the Journal. “The tools that people are using to present themselves in the best light possible are the same reason that companies are resorting to these backdoor references,” he said.
Mr. Toscano said he balances discretion and disclosure, informing candidates that he plans to contact former colleagues and giving them a chance to respond to any criticism. Current co-workers are off-limits.
The practice is not uniformly harmful to candidates, either. “I’ve actually seen backdoor references help people more often, as opposed to being a detriment,” Kelli Hrivnak, an independent recruiter, told the Journal. A strong unsolicited endorsement can tip a close decision.
The rise of backdoor references reflects a broader trust breakdown in hiring. Applicant fraud has become widespread, with Checkr CEO Daniel Yanisse telling the Journal his firm sees everything from resume embellishment to data theft. At Zapier, an internal audit found more than 3 in 4 applications for a recent senior engineering role were fraudulent, prompting the company to require at least one live reference call before any offer is extended — including off-book contacts.
In healthcare, conversations about AI and hiring have largely focused on shifts in the candidate pool rather than changes to the hiring process itself.
Children’s National in Washington, D.C., for example, is already seeing more applicants from AI-disrupted industries like data analytics, computer science and consulting, and has added situation-based scenarios to its selection process to assess agility, collaboration, empathy and critical thinking, Chief People Officer Gina Cronin told Becker’s. Other health system leaders have pointed to AI anxiety as a potential driver of new talent toward stable healthcare careers.
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