[rguzman]

> Surprised I don't see my main pet peeve - early reference check.

the right way seems to be to give a heads up, early on, that references will be needed and be explicit about when they will be contacted. this ensures that the process doesn't block for a couple of days on the candidate contacting their references.

[anjc]

The problem isn't your references blocking the process, it's that your references have to be bothered even if the company will have no interest in you, and that you have to go chasing them up every time you make a speculative application