In general, most people think reference checks are pretty much the same as employment and education verifications.  However, they are really their own unique challenge.  Is it amazing how low the return call percentage is on references when compared to employment and education verifications.  It does appear to make a difference when the subject has alerted the reference to the fact that they are going to use them as a reference.  We urge our clients to have their applicants supply professional references, preferably ones who supervised the applicant.  Our investigators find it very rewarding when someone is excited about being a reference and gives very thoughtful and useful answers.  Fortunately, this occurs a lot of the time.  On those other occasions our investigators are reminded about how proper interviewing techniques will lead to the best results for our clients.  They are great at stepping up to the challenge and using a sub set of questions to obtain further details about the subject.  Sometimes they simply reassure an inexperienced reference that they are on the right track.  This invariably gets the reference to open up more.  As we see the number of different inquiries per subject rise, we find our clients looking to references to find out just how the applicant may fit into their work environment.