In this HRchat interview, we hear from James Lord, Sales Director at Xref.com Americas about how reference checking should be conducted to ensure essential workers are placed into roles that can help those needing care during the crisis. James will be a speaker at the Hacking HR Toronto online event on May 14. Questions in this interview include: How much more difficult is it to have a resume that stands out during this period of mass unemployment?   What are the main market and economic influences that impact whether people conduct reference checks and how has it changed as a result of Covid-19? Why can't HR managers just do a criminal check instead of using references?Why do some companies ignore reference checks completely?   About James LordJames joined the initial start-up team that launched Xref internationally in London, in 2016 and sold the first deals outside of its original Australian founding, he then moved to Toronto in 2018 and has quickly risen to the role of Sales Director Americas. Having previously worked for the international online job board, Resume-Library.com, as Head of Sales and Customer Service, James has a solid understanding of the global international HR and Talent Acquisition industry and relevant expertise for Xref clients.Prior to joining Resume-Library.com, James spent more than three years in commercial management roles with recruitment agencies and online job board/Talent Acquisition Tech services. His experience working in start-up environments and within the HR Tech solutions sector has given him deep insights into the issues and challenges faced daily by companies looking to identify top candidates. We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast and Iceni Media Inc.   Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here. Follow us on LinkedIn Subscribe to our newsletter Check out our in-person events