reference calls pose an interesting challenge: how to get real color from a recommender who thinks they need to be positive?

best q I’ve found:
“What’s a strength of someone else you’ve recommended that isn’t a strength of __?”

best questions yall have come across?

making a big community that feels small 
plexus.substack.com

I always ask where they would rank the candidate against everyone they’ve ever worked with in a similar role. Usually folks say within the top 5 people.

Then I ask what differentiates the candidate from the #1 person. 

Usually lots of good answers.

I always force them to rate a candidate on a 1 to 10 scale, it's usually arbitrary but it's a forcing function for them to either defend a 10 or say why they haven't rated them a 10