good question. I would say references are next to useless nowadays since most companies will only give basic information such as dates of employment, confirming job title etc. This i imagine is due to the fear of repercussions should a candidate miss out on a job because of a less than satisfactory reference.

Personal reccommendations are useful but have more impact if they are either a) From a mutual contact and /or b) from someone in a senior position with a good reputation. If they are, as you have seen a scratch my back, i’ll scratch yours kind of thing then they lose value because you wonder how much is true and how much is because they are friends.

When hiring someone to join a business there are so many different factors that come in to play that it is hard to say you should definately do this or that.. so in truth, having recommendations can’t do any harm but it is very unlikely that the choice between two or more candidates for a position would come down to references or the number of recommendations they have on linkedin.