[mslate]

I would love to be judged by my references earlier in the interview process, however this is not meritocratic.

In fact it's the opposite since it favors nepotism and disadvantages people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. This is the same reason CA introduced the recent law prohibiting employers from asking about salary history.

But what is a "reference"? Often, it's a free-form phone call from the hiring manager to a person you've previously worked with. I think there's a lot of room to improve LinkedIn's "recommendations" feature--they clearly de-prioritized it, as well as endorsements.

In a nutshell, I want my social proof to precede me in my job search.

Why do fizz buzz when you can get several of your friends to confirm "this person can do fizz buzz, and also these things that you are expressly hiring for."

[muzani]

I dislike references because:

1. People can lie in support of their friends, or be bad judges of ability. A project manager might vouch that this guy is godlike when the reality is that they've just been working late whenever the boss is around and hacks everything together clumsily.

2. Some people don't want their best employees to leave, so they won't want to give a strong recommendation to someone, especially if that person is currently employed.

3. Whatever circumstances that causes one to leave a job might not put them on the best terms.

I feel that recommendations are sometimes like asking someone's ex about their character.

[fitpolar]

I identify with your point about nepotism, but ironically references favor nepotism.

People who have been lucky enough to work great mentors, and smart & supportive colleagues, are at an advantage.

I personally didn't find one of these environments until 5 years into my career, so I'm well aware of the closed minded, short fused, agitated, demotivated, and political developers that exist out there. I know this may be hard to understand for anyone working in Silicon Valley where smart and open minded colleagues are probably the norm, but the other perspective is worth keeping in mind when it comes to references.