This can be drafted initially by a subcommittee, based on suggestions from individual committee members, and then brought to the full committee for discussion and final approval. An effort should be made to limit the total interview to about twenty minutes. Questions should be fairly specific, and examples of behaviors should be sought. It's generally useful to begin the interview by asking the reference how long he or she has known the candidate, and in what capacity. The interviewer then reads a description of the position and the qualifications desired, and asks how well the candidate fits that description.
Specific questions can then follow.
Candidates Confirmed All of the candidates about whom interview checks are to be made should first be called by the committee chair to inform them that they are still under consideration for the position. The chair can thereby confirm that they continue to be interested, as well as inform them that their references will now be called. They should also be told when they can next expect to hear about the status of their candidacy. As indicated earlier, the initial announcement of the position should have requested the names and telephone numbers of five references. Four of those references should be assigned at random to four different committee members - not all four to a single person.