FOR RECRUITING & STAFFING FIRMS

Know more before you put your reputation behind the candidate.

Reference First gives recruiters a structured evidence layer at the finalist stage — designed to strengthen judgment, client confidence and differentiation without turning your process into a commodity reference questionnaire.

The Recruiter’s Real Risk

When a placement fails, the cost is bigger than the replacement search.

A weak placement can consume recruiter time, trigger a replacement guarantee, strain the client relationship and create doubt about the firm’s judgment.

Recruiter time

Consumed by re-searching, re-screening and re-convincing.

Replacement guarantee

Triggered by the client arrangement you signed.

Client relationship

Strained by a hire that didn’t hold.

Firm’s judgment

Doubted after the visible miss.

A Client-Facing Differentiator

Your sourcing process may be hard for the client to see. The Hiring Signal Report™ is tangible.

Reference First can give your firm a visible way to demonstrate that your process goes beyond finding candidates. Instead of saying “we check references,” your recruiter can explain that finalists undergo Pre-Hire Signal Verification™ designed to test the strength, consistency and role relevance of the evidence behind the candidate.

Before we put our reputation behind the finalist, we use Reference First™ to turn traditional reference opinions into a structured Hiring Signal Report™.

Where It Fits

Built for searches where the evidence matters most.

Permanent placement and executive search where the placement fee is meaningful.
Assignments with replacement guarantees or substantial reputational downside.
Finalist-stage decisions where the client wants more confidence without another full assessment centre.
Firms with multiple recruiters and repeat volume that can standardize Reference First at a defined stage.
Roles where reliability, leadership, safety, customer conduct, sales behaviour or operational discipline matter materially.

What It Costs

Simple assessment economics.

Your first qualifying Proof Placement™ is free. Thereafter, Reference First Complete™ is $399 per candidate and includes up to three references and the full Hiring Signal Report™. Optional Placement Protection™ is available separately for qualifying placements.

$0

First qualifying Proof Placement™

on your firm’s first finalist

Free

$399

Reference First Complete™

per candidate · up to 3 references · full Hiring Signal Report™

Per candidate

Optional

Placement Protection™

available separately for qualifying placements

Separate add-on

Who It Is Not For

We would rather lose a sale than sell the wrong fit.

Firms looking only for the cheapest automated reference questionnaire.
Buyers who only need employment-date verification.
Organizations unwilling to provide enough role context to make the assessment job-relevant.
Teams that want Reference First to make the hiring decision for them rather than provide decision-support evidence.

Your next finalist