Reference check form: ask every referee the same questions

References by email are a lottery. One referee writes a page, another writes a line, and neither answers the thing you needed. I would rather ask every referee the same questions in the same order. A reference check form does exactly that.

How it works

The referee gives their name, email and role, and says how they know the candidate.
They give the dates and the job title from the time they worked together.
They rate reliability, quality of work and working with others.
They write strengths and areas to grow, and say whether they would work with the person again.
They tick that they are happy for their answers to be shared with the hiring team.

A short chat

A referee's AI might ask: "How do you know the candidate?" Then "How reliable were they, from 1 to 5?" Then "Would you work with them again?" It shows the answers and asks "Send it?" before anything goes out. See agent-fillable forms.

Good to know

This is a form, not legal advice. Have a professional check wording that has legal weight, and follow local rules on references. The form asks for no ID details. Call the referee if anything looks thin. To check skills yourself, add a knowledge check. After the offer, a training registration form books the first sessions. More in forms for HR and recruiting.

Questions

Does the candidate see the referee's answers?

Only you, as the form owner, read the responses. Tell referees in your message how you will use their words, and follow your local rules about sharing them.

Can I use it as an employment reference request?

Yes. Send the link instead of a long email. Each referee answers the same questions, so references for different candidates compare easily.

What if a referee says very little?

Only the basics are required, so a busy referee can still finish. Treat thin answers as a prompt to call and ask one more thing.

Or paste the JSON

Give this to your AI. It needs the AI Form API MCP server or an API key. It makes the form and sends you the link.

text

Create this form with the AI Form API create_form tool (or POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms with my API key). Then reply with the public_url.

{
  "title": "A reference for a candidate",
  "description": "Thank you for helping. Please answer about the work you saw. Skip anything you cannot speak to.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "referee_name",
      "label": "Your name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "referee_email",
      "label": "Your email",
      "type": "email",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "referee_post",
      "label": "Your job title and organisation",
      "type": "short_text",
      "max_length": 250
    },
    {
      "id": "candidate_name",
      "label": "Name of the candidate",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "how_you_know",
      "label": "How do you know the candidate?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "I was their manager",
        "I was a colleague",
        "I was a client",
        "I taught or supervised them",
        "Something else"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "dates_worked",
      "label": "When did you work together?",
      "type": "short_text",
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "their_job_then",
      "label": "Their job title at that time",
      "type": "short_text",
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "reliability_score",
      "label": "How reliable were they?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "work_quality_score",
      "label": "How good was their work?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "teamwork_score",
      "label": "How well did they work with others?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "strengths_seen",
      "label": "Strengths you saw",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1500
    },
    {
      "id": "development_areas",
      "label": "Areas where they could grow",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1500
    },
    {
      "id": "would_work_again",
      "label": "Would you work with them again?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Yes",
        "Maybe",
        "No"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "answers_may_be_shared",
      "label": "I am happy for my answers to be shared with the hiring team",
      "type": "checkbox",
      "required": true
    }
  ]
}

Or call the API

bash

curl -X POST https://aiformapi.com/v1/forms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIFORMAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title":"A reference for a candidate","description":"Thank you for helping. Please answer about the work you saw. Skip anything you cannot speak to.","fields":[{"id":"referee_name","label":"Your name","type":"short_text","required":true,"max_length":150},{"id":"referee_email","label":"Your email","type":"email","required":true},{"id":"referee_post","label":"Your job title and organisation","type":"short_text","max_length":250},{"id":"candidate_name","label":"Name of the candidate","type":"short_text","required":true,"max_length":150},{"id":"how_you_know","label":"How do you know the candidate?","type":"single_choice","required":true,"options":["I was their manager","I was a colleague","I was a client","I taught or supervised them","Something else"]},{"id":"dates_worked","label":"When did you work together?","type":"short_text","max_length":150},{"id":"their_job_then","label":"Their job title at that time","type":"short_text","max_length":150},{"id":"reliability_score","label":"How reliable were they?","type":"rating","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"work_quality_score","label":"How good was their work?","type":"rating","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"teamwork_score","label":"How well did they work with others?","type":"rating","min":1,"max":5},{"id":"strengths_seen","label":"Strengths you saw","type":"long_text","max_length":1500},{"id":"development_areas","label":"Areas where they could grow","type":"long_text","max_length":1500},{"id":"would_work_again","label":"Would you work with them again?","type":"single_choice","options":["Yes","Maybe","No"]},{"id":"answers_may_be_shared","label":"I am happy for my answers to be shared with the hiring team","type":"checkbox","required":true}]}'

JSON definition

json

{
  "title": "A reference for a candidate",
  "description": "Thank you for helping. Please answer about the work you saw. Skip anything you cannot speak to.",
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "referee_name",
      "label": "Your name",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "referee_email",
      "label": "Your email",
      "type": "email",
      "required": true
    },
    {
      "id": "referee_post",
      "label": "Your job title and organisation",
      "type": "short_text",
      "max_length": 250
    },
    {
      "id": "candidate_name",
      "label": "Name of the candidate",
      "type": "short_text",
      "required": true,
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "how_you_know",
      "label": "How do you know the candidate?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "required": true,
      "options": [
        "I was their manager",
        "I was a colleague",
        "I was a client",
        "I taught or supervised them",
        "Something else"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "dates_worked",
      "label": "When did you work together?",
      "type": "short_text",
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "their_job_then",
      "label": "Their job title at that time",
      "type": "short_text",
      "max_length": 150
    },
    {
      "id": "reliability_score",
      "label": "How reliable were they?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "work_quality_score",
      "label": "How good was their work?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "teamwork_score",
      "label": "How well did they work with others?",
      "type": "rating",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 5
    },
    {
      "id": "strengths_seen",
      "label": "Strengths you saw",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1500
    },
    {
      "id": "development_areas",
      "label": "Areas where they could grow",
      "type": "long_text",
      "max_length": 1500
    },
    {
      "id": "would_work_again",
      "label": "Would you work with them again?",
      "type": "single_choice",
      "options": [
        "Yes",
        "Maybe",
        "No"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "answers_may_be_shared",
      "label": "I am happy for my answers to be shared with the hiring team",
      "type": "checkbox",
      "required": true
    }
  ]
}

Reference check form for hiring