[HarHarVeryFunny]

An internal referral by someone at the company you are applying to might carry some weight, or at least get you a foot in the door (interview), but I think it's been years/decades since past employers were willing to say more than "yes, he worked here", for fear of lawsuits.

[roguecoder]

References these days are usually with individual coworkers, rather than a company reference.

It usually isn't "is this person a good developer?" either. Instead, it is open-ended questions without any one right answer. How much structure did this person like? What about your work place helped them be successful? What role did they play on the project you worked on together? What impact did they have on the team?

If someone's reference didn't work with them closely, that's as strong a no-hire signal as if they outright said "this person sucked." If they don't have anyone they can hand you the phone number for who has specific, detailed praise about them and their work, you can safely move on to the ten other candidates who do.

[compiler-guy]

This is true in giant companies, but in smaller companies it is less true.

In smaller companies, "I worked with this person and they are really solid." carries a lot of weight.