Once you've set up a reference survey, you can easily request candidates to provide references. This will automatically trigger the sending of the reference survey to the provided references.

Request references

Instead of the old setup wizard, you’ll now use a streamlined and assessment-focused page that aligns with the job-level setup. This update simplifies the process, so you can seamlessly invite candidates to One-Ways and Predictive Talent Assessment, and request references—all from one place.

To request references for a candidate:

1. From the Assessment list or View job page, click Invite > Reference Check at the top of the page.

   

2. Select the job this request is for.
3. The assessment type will default to Reference Check.
4. Choose a Reference survey and the number of references you'd like to request.
5. If the selected job doesn’t have a default Reference survey, you can check Use as default for this job to set one.

6. Enter the candidate’s name, email, and phone number if relevant.
   • Add up to 1000 candidates in bulk by uploading a CSV file. To do this, click CSV upload, download the template, fill the columns with the relevant candidates, and re-upload the file.
   • You also have the option to send candidates updates via SMS text messages.

7. Optionally, customize your email invitation.
   • Default – If you have set up default email templates for one-way interview invites in your email template library, they will automatically be used as the default content for your invitations.
   • Customize – If you want to edit the email invitation content or choose another template, select this option. Customize the content or choose a new email template by clicking Select template and selecting one from the list.
8. Set a completion deadline:
   • For candidates – You can set the deadline as a number of days (e.g., 3 days, ending at midnight in their time zone) or choose a specific due date and time.
   • For references – Set the deadline as a number of days. It will close at the end of the last day in the reference’s time zone.
9. When you're ready to finish, click Send invites.

Timeline overview

When you request references, you’ll see a clear timeline on the candidate's assessment status showing three key dates:

• Requests sent – The date the Reference checks request was sent to the candidate.
• Candidate’s deadline – The last date for the candidate to provide their reference contacts.
• References’ deadline – The last date for references to complete the survey.

The timeline updates automatically based on when the request is sent and helps you track progress.

What happens after references are requested

The candidate receives an email request to submit their references. To complete the request, they must provide each reference’s name and email address. They may also include additional details, such as the reference’s:

• Phone number
• Job title at the time they worked together
• Relationship to the candidate

• Company name

  

• After the candidate submits a reference, their contact information will appear on the candidate’s profile.

  

• Once submitted, references are automatically sent the reference survey.

If either the candidate or the reference doesn’t respond, Spark Hire will send them a reminder email so they don’t miss the deadline. You can view the full step-by-step process here.