Don't give references to recruiters. Give references to hiring managers only. Once, I had a friend and former employer call me and ask if I was looking for a j

Don't give references to recruiters. Give references to hiring managers only. Once, I had a friend and former employer call me and ask if I was looking for a job. I told him no, I wasn't. Turns out, the recruiter was using "checking my references" simply as a pretext to call my former managers to ask if they were hiring.