For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt
For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt
Zinc
Help center
What Reference Types Are Offered at Zinc?
# What Reference Types Are Offered at Zinc?
Zinc offers several different types of references to support your candidate verification needs, allowing flexibility through our [Unified Referencing](https://help.zincwork.com/hc/hm54ky7yrc/article/48f75360-unified-referencing-setup-and-use-multiple-reference-types-for-candidate-verification) feature, which lets you combine reference types rather than choosing just one.
---
## Instant Employment Verification
- Instant Employment Verification uses government login systems to instantly verify up to 5 years of a candidate's employment history.
- This service is supported by our integration partner [Mistho](https://www.mistho.io).
- Supported countries (as of November 2025) include:
- United Kingdom (excluding Isle of Man or the Channel Islands)
- Spain
- Ireland
- India
- Netherlands
- Mexico
- Brazil
- Phillippines
- Candidates confirm their country of residence and sign in using their Payroll & Income Tax Controller credentials.
- The verification includes dates of employment and company name.
- Note: Job title verification is **not** included in this flow; additional reference types may be needed for full details.
- Candidates who cannot complete or prefer not to provide details for Instant Employment Verification can provide **HR Employment Verification** as an alternative.
- Candidates can also add HR references after completing Instant Employment Verification by clicking 'Add more' unless ‘Skip manual HR references’ is toggled on.
---
## (HR) Employment Verification
- Verifies employment directly with the HR team or Compliance department.
- Requires candidates to provide an email contact for Zinc to request verification on their behalf.
- **Acts as an alternative for candidates without Payroll & Income Tax Controller credentials or from unsupported countries**.
- Automatically presented if Instant Employment Verification is not completed or declined unless ‘Skip manual HR references’ is toggled on.
- The HR verification questionnaire includes default questions which can be customised via the package editor.
---
## Professional References
- Allows gaining insights beyond basic employment details.
- Candidates provide referees such as previous supervisors, line managers, or clients/accountants (for self-employed).
- Questionnaires can be customized but are optional; referees can skip to provide only basic employment confirmation (dates and job title).
---
## Regulatory References
- Used in regulated industries requiring referees to answer mandatory questions related to safeguarding and compliance.
- Fully customizable questionnaires for your industry needs.
- Supports collecting historical regulatory references for all previous regulated roles, recommended for healthcare and education sectors.
- To avoid duplicate references when candidates cannot verify instantly, you can enable 'skip manual HR references' inside the Employment Verification settings.
---
## Academic References
- Used when you have candidates that are newly graduated. A candidate can provide a teacher, mentor, or advisor as a referee and we can verify some details about their time at this institution as a student.
- Only available when the candidate selects an **Education** type period of **non-employment**.
- This reference type is always on and cannot be turned off/on.
- The academic reference questionnaire includes default questions which can be customised via the package editor.
## Character References
- Statements that vouch for a candidate's personal qualities, integrity, and professionalism.
- Only requested, if a non-employment period (**besides Education**) is provided **and** you have **toggled on to require character references for non-employment periods** inside the package editor on Zinc.
- In the UK, character references should come from individuals in respected professions or good community standing and must not be relatives.
- Candidates indicate inability to provide a reference for your reference criteria by entering in non-employment periods.
- Once indicated, candidates are prompted to add character references within the platform if it has been toggled on to require character references for non-employment periods inside the package editor on Zinc.
- The character reference questionnaire includes default questions which can be customised via the package editor.
---
For more detailed guidance or additional questions, explore Zinc's knowledge base on referencing [here](https://help.zincwork.com/hc/hm54ky7yrc/folder/26a95448-reference-check-setup).
