Reference-Check Pin-Down Questions
Force a ranking and a manager's-eye answer to get honest signal from cautious referees.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 87%
Two questions do most of the work. The first is a forced ranking ladder: is this someone in the top 20% of people you've ever worked with? If yes, top 10%? Top 5%? The mechanism is that people are reluctant to lie about a specific quantified claim in a way they are not reluctant to give a vague warm endorsement, so the point at which they hesitate is real information. The second is subtler and doesn't ask for criticism at all: 'I'm going to be their manager — you were their manager. What's the most important thing I could do to help them?' That puts the referee back into the managerial role, where the honest answer is a development need rather than a betrayal, and people say revealing things — 'I'd tell them to be more truthful when things are off the rails.' Then follow the thread: tell me about a situation where you had to give that advice.
Origin
Extracted from The Tim Ferriss Show — Claire's approach after two decades of hiring at Google and Stripe, developed in response to how hard it is to elicit honest negative references in the US.
Core principles
- 01Referees withhold negatives out of liability fear, not lack of information.
- 02People don't like lying about a specific quantified ranking.
- 03Putting someone back in the manager's chair unlocks candour indirectly.
- 04Advice framed as help is easier to give than criticism framed as warning.
- 05Follow the revealing answer with a request for the underlying situation.
How to run it
- 1
Open with the top-20% question
Ask directly whether the candidate is in the top 20% of people the referee has ever worked with.
- 2
Escalate the ladder
If they say yes, ask top 10%. If yes again, ask top 5%. Go until they stop.
Pro tip You can go straight to top five if you want the fast version.
- 3
Read the hesitation, not just the number
The point where the referee balks is the honest boundary. People don't like lying about a specific quantified ranking.
Watch out Ranking questions about humans are blunt instruments — reserve them for when you genuinely need to pin someone down.
- 4
Put them back in the manager's chair
Say: I'm going to be their manager, you were their manager — what's the most important thing I could do to help them?
Pro tip This reframes criticism as help, which is a much easier thing for a cautious referee to give.
- 5
Follow the revealing answer to a story
When something surprising comes out, ask for the situation in which they had to give that advice.
Pro tip The story is where the specifics live — the answer alone is just a headline.
In the wild
Asked what the incoming manager could most usefully do to help the candidate, a referee replies: I'd tell them to really be more truthful when things are off the rails. That is a serious signal delivered as constructive advice — the referee never had to say anything negative. The follow-up — tell me about a situation where you had to use that advice — draws out the concrete incidents behind it.
→ Specific, usable signal that a straight 'what are their weaknesses?' question would never have produced.
Common mistakes
Asking for weaknesses directly
In liability-conscious markets, direct requests for negatives produce boilerplate. The information has to come out sideways.
Accepting the first yes
Top 20% is an easy yes. The signal lives in whether they'll go to 10% and 5%, so don't stop at the first affirmative.
Not chasing the story behind the answer
A one-line development note without the underlying situation is unverifiable and easy to rationalise away.
Is it for you?
Best for
Hiring managers and recruiters running reference or back-channel checks in litigation-cautious markets like the US.
Not ideal for
Contexts where ranking humans is culturally inappropriate or where the relationship matters more than the signal.
From the transcript
“is this someone in the top 20% of people you've ever worked with and then they say yes you say top 10”
“when people are ask for a specific quantifiable ranking of something they don't like lying”
“I'm going to be their manager you are their manager what's the thing I could do that's most important to help them”
From the episode
#724: Claire Hughes Johnson — How to Take Responsibility for Your Life, Create Rules That Work, Stop Being a Victim, Set Strong Boundaries, and More