ATTESTUM VS PHONE CALLS

20 minutes on the phone — or 10 seconds with a link

Phone calls were the best option when there was no alternative. Now there is.

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Side by side

Phone Calls

Attestum

Time

15–20 min per reference (plus scheduling)

10 seconds

Scheduling

Coordinate across time zones

Available 24/7 — click a link

Permanent record

Your handwritten notes

Sealed, tamper-proof, downloadable PDF

Fraud protection

Trust the voice

Writer's work email verified before reference goes live

Candidate burden

Referee contacted for every application

Reference written once, shared unlimited times

Cost

Recruiter time (~€25–30 per check)

€3 per verification

Reusability

Zero — each check is a one-time conversation

Permanent — reference is sealed and reusable forever

Legal defensibility

Verbal, unrecorded, disputable

Written, sealed, timestamped, independently verifiable

When phone calls still make sense

Attestum isn't trying to eliminate phone references entirely. For final-round executive hires, a 30-minute conversation with a former board member is irreplaceable. But for the 80% of reference checks that are confirmatory — “Did this person work there? Were they good?” — a sealed, verified written reference is faster, cheaper, and more trustworthy than playing phone tag for three days.

Think of Attestum as a first-pass filter. Verify the sealed references instantly. Then call for the few that need deeper conversation.

The hidden cost of phone references

At an average recruiter billing rate of €50/hour, a 20-minute reference call costs ~€17 in recruiter time. Add 10–15 minutes of scheduling and follow-up per call and the real cost is €25–30. At 60 references per month, even at 20 minutes per call, that's 20 hours of phone time — before scheduling overhead.

Attestum verification: €3 per reference. Same 60 references: €180/month.

HOW MUCH COULD YOU SAVE?

References per month20

Recruiter hourly rate€50

11.2h

saved/month

16.8d

saved/year

€6,700

saved/year

Phone calls: ~11.7 hrs/mo → Attestum: ~30 min/mo

Based on 20 minutes per reference call plus 15 minutes of scheduling and follow-up overhead.