（一）

刚到新西兰找工作时，以为这里的背景调查（以下简称“背调”）就跟工作求职的终面一样，只是一个流程，走走过场而已。

后来在知道一些反面案例后，才渐渐重视起来。

在这个地方小、市场少、个人口碑很重要的 “small world”，可能感慨最多的，就�是「世界真小」。因为总能通过朋友的朋友，认识眼前的新朋友。

六度空间理论在这里得减半。三个足矣，不能再多了。

比如不少同事在辞职时，都会这么写，同时留下联系方式：

The technology industry is a small world in NZ and hopefully we’ll cross paths again, so please keep in touch.

在以诚信为主的社会，人际关系 Networking 的效用也被无形放大。

比如拿护照时，需要提供一个本地国籍的见证人，也算是 Reference check。这个可以理解。

求职面试中，如果有关系好的内推，感觉面试都水了不少（别问，拿 offer 就完事儿了）。真心让人硬核不起来。

当然，这同样也会导致那些啥都不会全靠嘴的人蒙混过关。真魔幻。

不过现在听说租房，除了个人简历 Cover Letter，也需要提供推荐人了。魔幻 Plus。

之所以会有这篇文章，就是最近帮朋友做背调。

之前的推荐人出于无心，在一些关键问题上，用词不够准确，加上没有什么准备，情急之下，说了些模棱两可的内容，引起了公司的误解。

总之，反馈的结果让公司觉得不大放心。

所以，本来要发的 offer 又拖了一周。后来又加了一轮非技术面试。

有句广告词怎么说的来着：「背调十分钟，多面俩小时」。

对方仍然在犹豫时，朋友说要是有顾虑的话，就再提供一位推荐人。

公司当然欣然答应。

于是，就提供了我的联系方式。

工作背景调查，顾名思义，就是确认面试人过往工作经验的真实性。通过多方调查，双重验证，来更完整的了解面试人。毕竟招人成本不低，开人也不是那么容易。

说白了，雇主才是弱势群体。

庙小的确容不下大佛，请神容易送神难。

「相见时难别亦难，东风无力百花残」。李商隐一首《无题》，道尽了多少公司雇主的辛酸。

背调，基本是确定给 Offer 前的最后一个步骤（也有的中介会要求面试前就提供的），英文叫 reference check。通常需要提供两个或两个以上的直属领导的个人联系方式（中介或公司可能会要求这两个人分别来自上两家公司），以供公司或中介来进行背调。

之前就有遇到公司或中介发来 Reference check 的电子版，让推荐人填写的。

偷偷说一句，在这种情况下，也可以自己填好了，让推荐人确认签字就行——这也是文章下半部分存在的意义。

不过更多的情况，是要求提供推荐人的姓名 / 职位 / 联系方式，由第三方中介或公司的 Hiring Manager / HR 来电话或邮件询问。

至于具体的调查内容，技术就不再是主角了。更有点像是面试期间的 behavioural questions。

对应的背调问题，可能集中在以下几个方面：

会询问面试者：

• 曾经的工作内容：以确认能否胜任新的工作。

• 工作态度：是否靠谱，是否愿意学习新东西，是否迟到早退等等。

• 合作能力：是否能与组内成员沟通协作，互相配合，共同完成任务。

• 软技能：包括交流沟通能力（英文听说读写），工作方法，时间管理，抗压能力，情绪控制等等。

• 个人性格 / 人际关系：是否合群，是否易相处，是否易管理等等。

（二）

下面提供了参考背调提问，以及部分回答举例：

GENERAL QUESTIONS

• What was your association with (NAME)? And over what time?

• Who did (NAME) report to?

• What were (NAME) main responsibilities and key tasks?

• How effective was (NAME) at that position?

• What would you say are (NAME) key strengths with regard to this specific job?

He/She’s a great developer – picks up new tech quickly, takes ownership of what he /she works on.
We use XXX here, so he / she is quite seasoned in that.
If he / she ever needs clarification, he /she will ask good questions and raise issues.
He / She would also propose solutions.

• Comment on (NAME) ability to learn, adapt to new ideas.

He / She learned any new tech very quickly and adapted to things easily.

• Did (NAME) complete all that was expected of him/her?

• Cover Job Specific’s KPI’s, competencies.

• How well did (NAME) cope with a really busy day, i.e. stress, conflict?

• How did (NAME) behave under pressure? Please comment on their ability to prioritise / meet deadlines / deal with customers.

Almost all of 20xx we had really tight deadlines and needed to deliver. He / She didn’t seem to mind or seem frustrated. Still produced quality and if he / she needed any clarification he / she could ask good questions. Even with the pressure the team delivered – no worries there.

• What about (NAME) tenacity. Can you talk through how (NAME) operates when things get tough?

• Can you tell me about (NAME) time management skills, can you give me an example of how (NAME) demonstrated this to you or others?
  e.g. Prioritising? Project time management.

• How effective is (NAME) written and verbal communication?

Always good – no issues. Good documentation. We used Jira as a ticket system and he / she was always quite good at updating his / her tickets and responding.

• How would you describe (NAME) personality?

• What was the best way to manage (NAME) ?

I think he / she is fairly easy to manage. He / She doesn’t need to be micromanaged and needs a bit of space to get in the right headspace to come up with good solutions.

• How well does (NAME) relate to other people, e.g. colleagues and/or clients?

Great, he / she was seen as proactive and got along well with everyone in the team.

Yeah always positive – our team is fairly internal, so we don’t really have interactions with customers. But lots of interaction across departments and with the team. He / She was seen as proactive.

• How effective was (NAME) at that position? How effective is (NAME) at working alone? Did (NAME) need encouragement to keep motivated?

• What do you think drives or brings the best out of (NAME)?

• Were there any areas (NAME) could have improved upon?

Not really. If I had to say something I guess since English is his / her second language just having a bit more confidence. However, that’s more of a side note as I never had any trouble understanding him / her and he / she always communicated well in both written and verbal communication.

GENERAL CLOSING QUESTIONS

• Were there any issues regarding (NAME)'s punctuality and/or attendance?

None at all. Some of the developers would come in late to our meetings, or text and just say they weren’t coming and not give a reason. We’d always know (NAME) would be there and if something did come up, he / she always gave a reason and was communicative.

• Personal Presentation?

• Are there any areas which (NAME) may need to focus on for future development? If so, which areas and why?

• Reason for leaving?

• Are there any issues with (NAME) attendance? Would you re-employ (NAME)?

Definitely – yes would re-employ. He/She’s a quality developer.

• Is there anything else you feel I need to know about (NAME) that may impact on (NAME) ability to perform in this role?

No issues at all.