EJM's policies and procedures for verifying recommender identities
All references are verified by EJM staff.
Step 1: Applicant searches for references in EJM's database of pre-verified recommenders.
The candidate enters the name of each reference and EJM searches to see if this person is already in the database of pre-verified recommmenders. If not, the procedure continues with Step 2.
When a candidate selects a pre-verified recommender for one of his/her applications, if the recommender already uploaded a generic letter and specified it for automatic delivery, then the generic letter is immediately attached to the application and "submitted" appears in the candidate's EJM account (the candidate is not given access to the letter). If the recommender has not scheduled auto-delivery then the letter is listed as "pending" and, in the event that the recommender or his/her proxy has elected to receive notifications, an email message is sent to announce the pending reference request. (The recommender and/or proxy may alternatively choose to receive no notifications.)
Step 2: Applicant submits new recommender information if the person is not a pre-verified recommender.
The candidate is required to supply sufficient contact information to identify the recommender (name, address, website of the recommender's organization or institutional affiliation).
This information is queued for approval for a new recommender account by EJM staff. The staff members verify the recommender's identity, particularly that the recommender's email address is correct. If a candidate specifies an email address that does not correspond to the recommender's official or "work" email address, the EJM staff may contact the recommender at alternate email addresses to verify that the email address supplied by the candidate is legitimate and is the recommender's preferred email address for receiving reference requests from EJM.
If EJM staff determine that the information supplied by the candidate on a proposed new reference is accurate and the recommender's identity and contact information is verified, then a new recommender account is created for this person (who now becomes pre-verified) and the recommender is notified.
If EJM staff are unable to verify the identity of the proposed new recommender, the request may be denied or delayed, and the candidate who supplied this information may be required to specify additional information to help locate and verify the proposed new recommender, or in the worst case may have to withdraw the reference and supply a new one whose identity can be verified by EJM staff.
In the candidate interface, a request for a new recommender that a candidate names is initially shown as "pending". After the new recommender is approved by EJM staff, this person's letter is designated as either "letter submitted" or as "pending" depending on whether the recommender or proxy has submitted a letter on the pending request.
Additional notes
Candidates may remove references from any of their applications. Also, recommenders are allowed to refuse a request to be a reference for a candidate and may withdraw letters. However, EJM has no control over whether recruiters view and consider letters submitted before being withdrawn or before references are removed. Candidates are informed when a recommender either refuses a request to serve as a reference or withdraws a previously submitted recommendation letter.