Screening forms, reference requests and sending references to the client

Signed in? Ask Lovelio this question inside the app - it answers from this same page.

Reference progress and review

References remains its own pipeline stage. Contact details, completed references, recruiter review and client sharing are separate events. A referee with only a phone number can be collected by phone. When the answers arrive, the job owner records Clear to proceed or Concern to resolve, with a note for concerns. This review does not alter the referee’s answers. Correcting answers clears the review so the owner checks them again.

A successful client email appears as Shared. Preparing a link without sending the email does not count as shared. The existing consent rule still excludes referees who did not agree to client sharing. You can log an offer while references continue, and open outstanding references from Offer.

Reference checking in Lovelio is a two-step flow. Step one: you ask the candidate for their referees' contact details. Step two: once the candidate has submitted them, you review the list and email each referee the reference form with one click (or take the reference on the phone yourself). Responses are saved to the candidate's application, and when the last expected reference comes back the AI writes a consolidated summary and flags anything concerning. Screening forms are separate: they are the custom question sets used by the phone screen flow, managed in Settings under Forms.

Requesting referee details from the candidate

Open the candidate's application and choose "Request references". A one-question wizard asks how many referees the candidate needs to give (1 to 5, with your usual number from workflow rules marked), then the request panel opens with that count set - still changeable there.
You can ask at any point while the application is live - before you shortlist, while the client is reading the submission, after the interview. Lovelio does not gate it on a stage. The only time it is unavailable is when there is nothing live left: marked as No, placed, rejected or withdrawn.
Pick the minimum number of referees (1 to 5). The default comes from your workflow rules in Settings (2 out of the box). The candidate cannot submit fewer than this and can add up to 5.
The panel pre-writes the email to the candidate. You can edit it, use "Draft with AI", or preview exactly what the candidate will receive. An "Add your referees" button is added below your message automatically.
Sending the request to a candidate at Client Interview moves them to the References stage - the check is now the live step. At every other stage the request sends without moving anyone, and a candidate at Offer is never pulled back.
The candidate's link stays valid for 30 days. Sending the request again (a changed message or a different minimum) keeps the same link and restarts the 30 days, so every email the candidate has still works. A new link is only made once the old one has expired or the candidate has already submitted.
The candidate needs an email address on file. If they do not have one, the send fails with a clear error and nothing is saved. If the email itself fails to send, the request is rolled back so the candidate never gets a follow-up for a request they never received.
This action also works from Cmd+K, Slack and the API, using your agency's default referee count.

What the candidate sees and submits

The candidate gets a page where they enter each referee: name, email, mobile, job title, where they worked together, the months they worked together (from and to, picked as month plus year, both mandatory), and how they worked together. Mobile is required and must be a real phone number. Submitted referees save to the candidate's master record, so they carry over to future applications. Saved referees pre-fill the page on the next request, and the candidate can remove any of them (each card has a Remove control) - removed referees are taken off their stored list when they submit, unless a reference has already been collected from that person, in which case the completed reference and the referee's card stay on the record.

When the candidate submits, you get an in-app notification, a Slack message if connected, and an item in the home page attention feed. Reference forms are never sent automatically at this point: you review who the referees are before Lovelio emails anyone on your agency's behalf.

If the candidate does not submit, an automatic follow-up emails them every few days (3 by default, set in workflow rules) until they submit, and the item escalates to your attention feed after a longer window (6 days by default). The follow-up email is a template you can turn off in Settings under Emails.

Collecting a reference, by phone or by email

Every referee card has a "Collect reference" button - on the candidate record's Referees tab and on the References panel of the deal file. It opens a two-question wizard: how you are taking it, then which questions. The referee's phone number shows on the card, so the number to call is in front of you before you pick up the phone.

By phone opens the call form. The referee's name, job title, relationship and their phone number sit at the top, and the number is a link you tap to dial. Every question shows how long it should take, there is a timer against the whole call, and you type or talk your way through. Answers save as you go, so a dropped call never costs what you already have. "Finish and write it up" closes the reference.
Finish later puts the call down without losing anything. The referee's row then reads "Started by phone" and the collect button becomes "Finish collecting reference" - clicking it reopens the same call with the answers you already have, on the first unanswered question. The same applies to the client and candidate feedback calls: closing the panel and reopening it picks up the unfinished call. A connected agent gets the same behaviour: asking it to start the reference again returns the unfinished call rather than a second one.
By email shows you the exact questions before your agency's name goes out on them, then sends the referee a link. That is the flow that already existed: 30-day link, automatic follow-ups, and the thank-you screen at the end.
The email option is unavailable when the referee has no email address on file, and says so. Take it by phone instead, or add their address.
If the candidate has more than one live job, the wizard asks which one first. A reference is evidence on one application.
Before you dial, Lovelio shows one line about the referee: whether their email is a work address at the company they name, whether they are already a contact at one of your clients, or whether it is a personal mailbox. It is information, never a block, and it never scores anyone.
A reference taken by phone counts exactly as an emailed one. It shows the same "Reference completed" on the referee card and it counts toward the number the set is waiting for.

Reading a completed reference

When a reference comes back, by email or by phone, a "references received" row lands on the application timeline and on the candidate's timeline, naming the referee and how it was taken. The stage does not move on its own: a completed reference is evidence, and you decide what happens next.
Every "Reference completed" label is a link. Click it and the reference opens in a panel: every question, the referee's answers, the red and green flags, who took it and how (by phone with the consultant named, or answered by email), and the date it came in.
The candidate's Referees tab also shows a "References given" list under each referee: one row per completed reference with the job, the client and the date. A referee can give references on more than one job over time; each row opens the full reference.
The recruiter who owns the job can edit a reference while the job is live, to fix what they typed on the call. Everyone else can read it but not change it, and the panel says who owns the job.
Once the job is Closed or Filled, the reference locks for everyone, permanently.
Any edit after completion shows an "Edited by" line naming who changed it and when, so a reference never changes silently. Edits also re-run the auto-flags and, when the set was already complete, the consolidated AI summary.

The questions Lovelio writes

Choosing "Lovelio's questions" writes the set for this candidate, not a generic list. It reads the AI assessment (including the criteria it was not satisfied on), the phone screen and interview answers, interviewer notes, what the client said or asked on the submission, and your own notes.

The whole set is built to fit a 10 to 15 minute call, and each question carries the minutes it should take. If the model writes too many, the tail is dropped rather than the call overrunning.
Questions that exist because of something specific carry a "why we are asking" line naming the reason, so you can pick up the phone without rereading the assessment. On the referee's own form those questions, and only those, are marked "Additional question"; the reason itself never reaches the referee.
The last question asks the referee whether you may quote them to the client. Nothing is ever quoted without that yes.
Choosing your own template instead gives you exactly your template: no additions, and no quotes offered.
If the question writing fails for any reason, Lovelio falls back to your template so the reference is never blocked.

Emailing the reference form to referees

The application's Referees tab shows where each referee's reference has got to (not sent, sent, back) and a send to every referee who has not already been sent one for this application. Clicking twice is safe: referees who already have one are skipped, and referees with no email are skipped and reported.
"Email the reference form" always shows you the send before it goes: who gets it, the exact questions they will be asked, and the email itself. Nothing sends until you confirm. The same check appears on the follow-up, which reminds referees on their existing link.
You can also send to a single referee, or collect that one by phone.
The email names the employer: the referee reads that the candidate is being considered for the role at the client, with your agency named as the one handling it. On an internal hire the client is your own agency, so the email names you. The client's name is never hidden at reference stage; the anonymity rule belongs to job ads.
The referee's link works for 30 days from the last time it was sent, and every follow-up (automatic or yours) gives it another 30. After that the page says the link has expired and to ask for a new one; send the form again and they get a fresh link. Feedback and custom form links sent from a candidate's record work the same way.
The email carries a personal link and a deadline. The deadline is the first follow-up date: your follow-up cadence from workflow rules (3 days by default). If the referee has not responded, an automatic follow-up goes out, at most twice. After two follow-ups a Slack notification flags the referee as unresponsive and no more emails are sent. Follow-ups run every 6 hours behind the scenes, so timing is approximate.
Each morning, a Slack digest lists references that have been out for more than a day without a response.
Sending marks the "referee details returned" item on your home feed as handled.

The References column on the home page

The Status column tells the waits apart, so you always know who needs to act:

Not requested yet - nobody has been asked. The button says "Request them".
Waiting on referee details - the request is with the candidate and their referees have not come back. After 3 quiet days it reads "Candidate not replying".
Referees in, not asked - the referees are on file and nobody has been sent the reference form. That one is on you, so it never turns red, and the button says "Email the reference form".
Waiting on referees - the reference forms are out. After 3 quiet days it reads "Referee not replying".
1 of 2 received - references are coming back, counted against the number you asked the candidate for.
All references in - the count is met. The button says "Read them".

Clicking the row opens the same status at the top of the panel, with every referee listed and where their own reference has got to.

The questionnaire itself

A fresh agency needs zero setup: a standard "Reference Check" form is created automatically, with sensible questions (how they know the candidate, their role, performance, would-hire-again, anything we should know). You can edit or replace it in Settings under Forms.
Settings under Forms has two reference slots: "Reference Collection - Phone" (Built In Forms) and "Reference Collection - Email to Referee" (Sendable Forms). Each is set to Lovelio AI or one of your forms. With Lovelio AI, the questions are written for this candidate from everything on file. Picking one of your forms means the referee gets exactly your questions, with no AI additions.
The referee verifies their email before seeing the questions, can type or dictate answers (answers auto-save as they go), and can use "Request a call instead", which raises an item for the consultant.

Where responses go

Each completed reference triggers an in-app and Slack notification linking to the candidate.
Yes/no and rating questions can auto-flag red or green based on each question's flag setting (for example a "would you hire them again" yes/no answered no flags red). The standard form's questions are neutral; flags come from your own question settings.
When completed references reach the expected count (the number of referees the candidate submitted), the AI writes a consolidated summary (200 words max) across all referees and lists any concerns with a severity of low, medium or high. This runs on the last reference to land, whether you took it on the phone or the referee filled in the form. It also pulls up to three quotable lines, but only from referees who said you may quote them. The summary and flags save to the application record and are available through the AI assistant and the API. Medium or high concerns raise a review item, an in-app notification, and a Slack alert (with a DM to the job owner if they are connected). The candidate also gets a "your references are all in" confirmation email, a template you can turn off in Settings under Emails.
References returned never move the application stage. The recommended next action updates to nudge you toward logging the offer, a "References in" item appears on your home feed, and you advance the candidate after reviewing.

Sending completed references to the client

Once a reference is back, the next move is putting it in front of the client. A "Send references" button appears wherever the references live - the candidate slideout's Referees tab, the job application's Referees tab, and the References panel on the home page - and only ever when at least one reference is actually back.

Tick which references go. Everything that can go is ticked for you; untick anything you would rather hold back.
"Read what the client will see" shows you the questions and the referee's answers exactly as the client will read them, before you send.
Write the subject, the opening line and your covering note, and use Preview to see the exact email the contact will receive.
It goes to the job's client contact. The email carries one secure link per referee, and each link opens that reference with every question and the referee's own words underneath. The links open straight from the email, nothing to sign into, and expire after 30 days.
A referee who said you may not quote them to the client can never be sent on. They show in the list, greyed out, with the reason. That answer is the last question on Lovelio's own reference set, and it decides this.
The client never sees your scores, your flags, or the referee's email address and phone number. They see the questions and the answers.
You are told when the client opens them, and both the candidate's record and the client's record carry a note saying what was sent, to whom, and when.
This also runs from Cmd+K, Slack and the API as "send references to the client".

Adding referees yourself

The candidate slideout has a Referees tab where you can add a referee manually with name, email, phone and relationship.
Resume parsing extracts referees from CVs automatically, skipping duplicates by name.
The AI assistant can add a referee for you ("add Jane Smith, jane@acme.com as a referee for this application").

Turning a referee into a client contact

A referee is a real person at a real company, usually a manager, so they are a business development contact you already have the details for.

Every referee card has an "Add as client contact" button. It opens a short form prefilled with their name, job title, email and phone.
Pick which client they work for. If their company is already one of your clients, it is selected for you. If not, choose "Add a new client" and Lovelio creates the client record as it saves the contact.
Adding the same person to the same client twice is safe: if a contact with that email already exists there, Lovelio hands you that contact instead of creating a second one.
This works from the Referees tab on the candidate and on a job application - it is the same tab.

The Forms page in Settings

Settings under Forms has three sections:

Built In Forms - one row per activity your team fills in inside Lovelio, usually on a call. The page calls each row a "moment": Phone Screen, Interview Questions - Internal, Interview Feedback - Internal, Client Interview Feedback by Phone, Candidate Interview Feedback by Phone, and Reference Collection - Phone. Each row holds a LIST of options - Lovelio AI where available, plus any forms you attach - and one option is the default. Click a row to open it: mark a different default with "Make default", edit a form, remove one from the row (it goes back to Your Forms as a plain sendable, never deleted), or "Add a form to this moment" - pick an existing form or build a new one that arrives already attached. When the activity starts (the call, the interview), the team picks from those options with the default offered first; a row with a single option shows no picker at all, so a fresh agency never sees one. A form belongs to one row - use Duplicate for the same questions in two rows. Different desks can keep different forms this way: a tech screen, a sales screen and a temp desk screen can all sit on the Phone Screen row.
Sendable Forms - the forms completed by someone outside the agency through an emailed link: Interview Feedback - Email to Client, Interview Feedback - Email to Candidate, and Reference Collection - Email to Referee. Lovelio follows up non-responders automatically (up to two nudges, every few days) and the answers are saved to the record with a notification to whoever sent it.
Your Forms - every form in your library. Edit any of them, duplicate, delete, or build your own with New Form: say what the form is for (onboarding, background checks, anything) and Lovelio drafts the questions for you to review in the builder. Custom forms can be sent to any client contact or candidate with the "Send a form" action (also from Cmd+K and the API).

There is also a "Send screening form" AI action: it attaches your default screening form to an application as a form instance, but it does not email the candidate anything.

Logging interview feedback by phone

After a client interview, the interview panel (opened from the home page or the calendar) shows two debrief rows: the client's feedback and the candidate's debrief.

"Log client feedback" opens a call form for ringing the client contact who ran the interview. Their name and number sit at the top - tap the number to dial - and the questions come from your "Client Interview Feedback by Phone" row in Settings under Forms (a sensible form is created for every agency automatically). If you have attached more than one form to that row, the panel first asks which one to run, with your default offered first.
"Log candidate feedback" is the same flow for the debrief call to your candidate, offering the "Candidate Interview Feedback by Phone" row's options the same way.
Answers save as you go, typed or spoken. A dropped call costs nothing: open the same row again and the call picks up where you left off, saved answers and all.
Questions your form marks required are a nudge, never a wall. If the call ended early, "Finish and save it" tells you what was not covered and saves anyway on a second click.
Finishing saves the latest answers after any draft save finishes, then writes the feedback to the application timeline. A completed client call exposes Progress, Decide later and Not proceeding. It never moves their stage - you choose the next step.
If you cannot get them on the phone, "Email them the form instead" under either debrief row sends the emailed version of the same form (the Sendable Forms slots). The same send is available as the "Send a form" action (Cmd+K, chat, Slack or the API). A row waiting on an emailed reply says so, and you can still log it by phone in the meantime.
Whether that email door exists is the agency's rule, not the consultant's choice. The References card on Settings > Hiring > Workflow says how client feedback is collected across the company: "by phone only" (the default for every agency - the email link is hidden and the Send a form action refuses the two emailed feedback slots) or "by phone, or by emailing a form". Each team can hold its own rule or follow the company's, under "Interview feedback by team" on Settings > Workspace > Users; a sub-team follows its parent team. The rule applies to the consultant doing the collecting, by their team. It only decides what goes out - feedback already emailed still comes back.

Common questions

Why did no questionnaires go out after my candidate submitted referees? By design. You review the referee list first, then send with one click.
Can I take a reference on the phone? Yes. "Collect reference" on the referee card, then "By phone". You get the referee's number, the questions with their timings, and a form you fill in while you talk.
A referee I emailed wants to talk instead. Open "Collect reference" on them again and pick "Take it by phone".
Can I resend a questionnaire? Clicking send again only reaches referees who have not already been sent one. Following up on an unanswered questionnaire happens automatically.
Why is a referee marked skipped? They have no email on file, or they already received a questionnaire for this application.
Can the candidate add more referees than I asked for? Yes, up to 5. The minimum you set is the floor, not the ceiling.
Does a bad reference reject the candidate? No. Concerns are flagged for your review; nothing changes stage automatically.