Most places that firmware devs come from around here have a policy of only verifying dates of employment. That doesn't tell you much.

References would be personal references - someone with a cell number and call the college he attended; they should also verify enrollment and completion. You don't want to be calling the HR department. Also, a secret is if the reference (not HR) only verifies employment, that's a negative review. They are concerned about liability. If it was a good employee, the references have no qualms about saying so; it's the negative aspects that carry legal liability.

You need to ask for those, not just prior companies. My resume has a "References available upon request" at the bottom and I'd happily give them. Is that no longer practiced? It used to be a requirement.

> References would be personal references - someone with a cell number and call the college he attended; they should also verify enrollment and completion.

Yeah, right. Personal references aren't worth squat because nobody gives references that are going to badmouth them.

The worst hire I've ever seen had a highly positive reference from a previous job.

It certainly isn't perfect. You have to interview the reference a little too, not just "how was he?"

Most companies, period, will have a policy of only verifying dates of employment. They don't want to get sued from telling the truth about the candidate and costing him the job offer.