Searchlight helps us understand candidates much better than we could during our interview process. Because Searchlight knows what questions to ask of former colleagues, you can get an understanding of what its like working with a candidate very quickly.
Searchlight does all the hard work of figuring out what we should be asking references and giving us a consistent rubric to evaluate candidates on. If not for Searchlight, our reference checking process would be ad hoc and prone to mistakes or missed opportunities.
The app is super easy to use for the employer as well as candidates.
Candidates are impressed that we use Searchlight because it shows them that we're making an effort to get to know them.
I strongly recommend using Searchlight as part of a recruiting process and using it early in your candidate pipeline. Getting to know candidates through the eyes of their former colleagues is insanely powerful.
We’ve made 100% of our hires with Searchlight and it’s become a critical part of the hiring process. On average we get 5 references from the candidates direct manager and peers -> this information is super valuable both to (1) to find outstanding candidates who you otherwise wouldn’t interview based on just a resume and also to (2) reject candidates who look otherwise loo good on paper.
Great product, great founders. Thoughtful approach to making the the current reference process better for everyone, which is more needed than ever in this world.
We use Searchlight with all our job candidates and it really helps us understand the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses better than a CV!
A lot of great candidates are going to get discovered and hired with this product
I was an early Searchlight customer when I was a VP at Nabis Distribution. The product helped my recruiting function tremendously, and I enjoyed doing business with the Searchlight team. Will definitely work with them again!
I’ve been using this to provide warm intros for my former students who were affected by COVID 19 layoffs. Searchlight’s reference questions are super effective, making great use of my time – they truly get to the root of what it’s like to work with someone. It also feels really good to know that my students can use my references multiple times across their job application process. This will have a meaningful impact on how we think about supporting people in our communities and help our networks make smart hiring choices.
I use Searchlight all the time in my hiring process now - either to work out whether to phone interview an applicant, or to get more info on them pre 2nd interview
Before Searchlight, I only reference checked candidates right at the end of the hiring process as a final check gate. With Searchlight, now I’m getting way more peer-reviewed info on candidates way sooner, and I can use this info to decide whether to proceed candidates in the hiring process
Recently received a request to submit a reference check for a former colleague. I'm always happy to have a thoughtful conversation with a prospective hiring manager about a coworker's strengths, areas for growth, and especially how to set them up for success. Searchlight fails primarily at creating a conversation -- writing a basic thoughtful recommendation across a dozen (or more) questions is simply work, with none of the benefits of conversation or further probing that a hiring manager should get via a reference discussion. If you're unwilling to have a phone/video/coffee conversation with someone for a reference check, then simply don't do it. Or use a much more lightweight approach than what Searchlight is doing. Don't ask someone - likely a manager/leader with a busy schedule - to volunteer 30+ minutes of their time to give valuable feedback to a impersonal webform.
The Searchlight approach also completely misses another side benefit of reference discussions -- as a hiring manager you have the opportunity to describe your company and establish a relationship with the person you're meeting. Instead you're just forcing someone to do a lot of work without giving them the benefit of meeting you, learning about your company, or even having a thoughtful conversation.
Lastly, there's no evidence of "AI" in terms of asking follow up questions, diving into details, etc. This appears to be just a simple webform asking for long written answers and a few multi-select responses. I'm very motivated to help folks via being a reference, but actively hope I don't have to use Searchlight again in the future.
