Checking out new recruits - Reference checking is hardly a glamorous subject, unlike our other two articles on bounty payments and golden hellos. Yet the apparently widespread practice of falsifying or "embellishing" job applications makes employers more wary than ever of the bona fides of the people they are about to appoint, and reference checking is a key means of verifying the skills, qualifications and experience of potential staff. We examine the ways of improving the process of obtaining references, provide examples of documentation, and discuss the constraints on those asked to supply a reference.