Directory/Skills Directory/Reference Checking

Reference Checking skill

Covers structured reference checks: choosing referees, question sets by level, call scripts, handling guarded or lukewarm references and keeping notes consistent. It also flags local rules on what former employers can disclose.

  • Screening and interviewsjob
  • Instructions onlywhat is inside
  • Nothing extrawhat it needs

Our review

Grade B

Good coverage and prompts, but more a menu of prompts than a step-by-step method.

View the source (opens in a new tab)How to install

What the Reference Checking skill does

Covers structured reference checks: choosing referees, question sets by level, call scripts, handling guarded or lukewarm references and keeping notes consistent. It also flags local rules on what former employers can disclose.

Best for
Recruiters running reference calls
Author
tuanductran
Needs
Nothing beyond your AI assistant
License
MIT
Runs in
Claude, Gemini CLI, Gemini Enterprise, Gemini app (as a Gem), ChatGPT, Codex, Grok

Our review

Grade B

Good coverage and prompts, but more a menu of prompts than a step-by-step method.

Safety check: Instructions only. No scripts, no outside calls, no install commands.

Read the full skill on its source page (opens in a new tab)

How to install Reference Checking in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok

Claude

  1. Download the skill from its source. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside; zip that folder if it is not zipped already.
  2. Open Customize (or Settings), then Skills.
  3. Upload the skill ZIP as it is. Do not unzip it.
  4. Switch it on. Claude uses it whenever a request matches its description.

Team and Enterprise owners may need to allow skills first.

Gemini Enterprise

  1. Download the skill from its source. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside; zip that folder if it is not zipped already.
  2. In the Gemini Enterprise web app, click Skills in the menu.
  3. Click +, then Upload skill, pick the skill ZIP and click Import.
  4. Call it with / in a chat, or let Gemini pick it up on its own.

Standard, Plus and Pay-as-you-go editions can upload. An admin has to switch skills on first.

Gemini CLI or Antigravity

  1. Download the skill from its source. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside; zip that folder if it is not zipped already.
  2. Unzip it into .gemini/skills/ in your project, or ~/.gemini/skills/ for every project. .agents/skills/ works too.
  3. Start a new session. Gemini finds the skill and asks before it switches it on.

ChatGPT

  1. Download the skill from its source. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside; zip that folder if it is not zipped already.
  2. In the sidebar, click Plugins, then the Skills tab.
  3. Click Create, then Upload from your computer, and pick the skill ZIP.
  4. ChatGPT scans it, then uses it on its own or when you @ mention it.

Skills are on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu, once an admin switches them on. On Free, Plus or Pro, paste the SKILL.md text into a Project or GPT's instructions instead.

Grok

  1. Download the skill from its source. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside; zip that folder if it is not zipped already.
  2. Grok Bot has no SKILL.md upload button yet. Paste the SKILL.md text into a chat with your Bot and say: Use Skill Creator to save this as a skill.
  3. Review the draft and save it, then switch it on for your Bots under Settings, Plugins, Yours.
  4. Call it with / in a chat.

Using Grok Build, xAI's coding agent? Unzip the folder into .grok/skills/ instead.

Gemini app

  1. Download the skill from its source. A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside; zip that folder if it is not zipped already.
  2. The regular Gemini app has no skill upload, so make a Gem.
  3. Paste everything in SKILL.md below the top block into the Gem's instructions.

Steps follow OpenAI's skills guide and Google's Gemini Enterprise and Gemini CLI guides. Menu names change, so check there if a label looks different. Claude Code reads skills from ~/.claude/skills/.

Tools that pair with this skill

Full directory

Connect the MCP server too, so your assistant can act inside the tool while it follows this skill: Checkr.

Guide: How to Screen Resumes With Claude: Folder Workflow, Scoring Rubric and the Rules (2026)

Questions

Is the Reference Checking skill free?

The skill file is published openly by tuanductran under the MIT license. It needs nothing beyond your AI assistant.

Does Reference Checking work in Gemini?

Yes. Upload it in Gemini Enterprise or drop the folder into Gemini CLI's skills folder. In the regular Gemini app, paste its instructions into a Gem.

Can I trust it with my data?

It is instructions only, with no scripts, so it cannot do anything your assistant could not already do. It can still steer how the assistant answers, so read it first.

More skills like this

Full Skills Directory

Linked to tuanductran's own page, not copied here. The grade is Work Insiders' opinion on the day we read the file; authors can change their files at any time. How we make money.