Developer Deep-Dive: Automating Your First Background Verification Check

Manual reference checks are a bottleneck. They're slow, inconsistent, and rely on scribbled notes and subjective phone calls. For modern, fast-moving tech teams, this outdated process doesn't just slow down hiring—it introduces bias and fails to capture the structured data you need to make the best decisions. It's time to treat reference checking like any other critical part of your tech stack: by automating it with a clean, simple API.

Welcome to reference.do, the API-first platform for hiring automation. This guide will walk you through how to use our background verification API to launch your first automated check, transforming your candidate screening from a manual chore into an efficient, data-driven process.

Why Automate Reference Checks?

Before we dive into the code, let's look at the "why." Moving from manual checks to an API-driven workflow offers four key advantages:

1. Speed and Efficiency: Stop chasing references via phone and email. Initiate a check with a single API call and let our platform handle the collection and follow-ups. Fill roles faster by cutting down on administrative overhead.
2. Data-Driven Decisions: Replace subjective impressions with structured, quantifiable data. Our API returns a clean JSON object with ratings, key strengths, and an overall recommendation, making it easy to compare candidates objectively.
3. Reduced Bias: Using standardized, role-specific question sets for every reference ensures a fair and consistent process. This minimizes the unconscious bias that can creep into unstructured phone conversations.
4. Seamless Integration: A major benefit of an API-first approach is that it fits directly into your workflow. Trigger reference checks from your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or internal dashboards at the perfect moment in your hiring pipeline.

Your First Automated Check: A Step-by-Step Guide

Ready to see it in action? Let's get started. All you'll need is an API key from your reference.do account.

Step 1: Initiate the Check

Everything starts with a simple POST request to our /checks endpoint. You just need to provide the candidate's basic information. This API call tells our system to kick off the entire automated workflow.

Here’s how you can do it using cURL:

Once you send this request, reference.do takes over. We contact the candidate (Alex Doe) to securely collect their references' contact details. Then, we automatically send your predefined questionnaires to each reference.

Step 2: Receiving the Comprehensive Report

You don't need to poll our API constantly. The best way to get results is by using webhooks. Simply configure an endpoint in your reference.do dashboard, and we’ll send you a POST request the moment the reference check is complete.

The webhook payload is a detailed, structured JSON report that gives you everything you need to know.

Step 3: Analyzing the Results

Let's break down this powerful JSON response:

• status: Instantly know if the check is pending, in_progress, or completed.
• summary: This is your executive summary. The overallRating, keyStrengths, and areasForDevelopment are aggregated from all reference feedback, giving you a high-level, unbiased overview. The recommendation offers a clear "hire" or "no hire" signal.
• references: Dive deep into the raw data. Here you can see who each reference was, what their relationship to the candidate was, and their verbatim answers to your questions.

With this data, you can confidently move forward, knowing your decision is backed by consistent, objective feedback.

Beyond the Basics: Customization & Deeper Integration

Automated reference checks are not a one-size-fits-all solution. That's why our reference checking software is built for flexibility.

• Custom Questions: Do you need to assess specific leadership skills for a management role or a particular tech stack for an engineering position? As shown in our initial cURL example (customQuestionSetId), you can create and specify custom question sets via the API to ensure you're asking what matters most for each role.
• ATS Integration: reference.do is designed to plug directly into your ATS. Use our REST API or SDKs to trigger checks automatically when a candidate moves to the "Reference Check" stage. You can then parse the returned JSON and display the summary directly within your ATS UI, keeping all your candidate data in one place.
• Security and Compliance: We know that handling candidate data requires trust. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and our processes are designed for compliance with major regulations like GDPR and CCPA, so you can automate with peace of mind.

Start Automating Today

Integrating an automated reference check into your hiring process is no longer a complex project. With a developer-first tool like reference.do, you can set up a robust, secure, and efficient workflow in an afternoon. You'll save countless hours, reduce hiring bias, and arm your team with the structured data needed to build a world-class organization.

Ready to stop chasing references and start making data-driven decisions? Sign up for free and get your API key today or explore our API documentation to learn more.