Potential Employer called my references!! Does that mean I got the job?

Question

I interviewed on Monday and everything went great. Before I left, the hiring manager asked for a copy of my references. The hiring mgr called 2 of my references the very next morning (my references called my right after). Now it is Wednesday and I haven't heard anything....but it has only been 48 hours since the interview.

Do you think the job is mine?

Have you ever had a company call your references and NOT hire you? If so, was there an explanation?

HR poeple...how many people do you usually call references on?

Answer 1

I have had several companies call my references and not hire me.  You have no idea what kind of impression your references made on the interviewer.  when i was a hiring manager I would narrow my choices down to about three and then call references.  Then I would balance all the info on all three and make my decision.

Answer 2

No, the job may not be yours but a good chance he'll see you for a secondary review, if he bothered to call them, and not just threw you resume out after the first glimpse.

I'd say it would depend how references goes....hey let me know what happens....

Answer 3

Calling your references doesn't mean you got the job. All it means is that you and everyone else in the running are now the final picks.

Answer 4

Reference checking or background checking is a good sign that you are one of the finalists and have not been screened out.  However, it is no guarantee that you are the only finalist or that you will be hired.  

We recently filled a sensitive position in which the references and the background checking were deemed very important.  Since a thorough check can take one to two weeks to complete, we started the reference and background checking before we finished the last few interviews.  So we ultimately did reference checking on two candidates and background checking on four candidates to make one offer.  

Since this is all very time-consuming, we would prefer to only reference check the single finalist normally.