[TheCoelacanth]

A company where "I worked with this person in the past and they were good" coming from a run-of-the-mill employee isn't enough to get someone an interview is a company with stupid recruiting practices.

Finding good candidates is expensive and time-consuming. If someone is serving up qualified leads to you on a silver platter, you take them.

Referrals from existing employees are the single highest quality source of candidates for most companies. Many companies even incentivize employees to refer candidates by giving them bonuses if they refer someone who ends up being hired.