What in particular sounds horrible? It's been a very effective way of making sure we ramp up hires quickly because we have opinions from multiple people who worked with them.
References are stupid to rely on. Opinions are just... Opinions. If a shop was asking around for what is essentially gossip about me I would run for the hills.
Some real problems relying on references that aren't really fixable too:
#1 good luck getting references from anyone they weren't friends with. If you "find your own" you're a special kind of evil if they're still employed. You could make someone lose their job without even making an offer. It's lose-lose
#2 It's so easy to fake references that the people you don't want will have you talking to "the king of timbuktu". The best references will come from the biggest liars
> Opinions are just... Opinions. If a shop was asking around for what is essentially gossip about me I would run for the hills.
This is insane. By this logic one would never take any advice about how to work productively with someone, what someone's strengths and weaknesses are… centuries of management theory have been reduced to "opinions and gossip".
Some real problems relying on references that aren't really fixable too:
#1 good luck getting references from anyone they weren't friends with. If you "find your own" you're a special kind of evil if they're still employed. You could make someone lose their job without even making an offer. It's lose-lose
#2 It's so easy to fake references that the people you don't want will have you talking to "the king of timbuktu". The best references will come from the biggest liars