FWIW, as a driver/firmware engineer, I haven't ever needed a good reference from my former employer I've just been giving out former coworkers' contact info in

FWIW, as a driver/firmware engineer, I haven't ever needed a good reference from my former employer I've just been giving out former coworkers' contact info instead, and usually they don't even get called. I'm guessing they call the former employer just to verify I actually worked there, but that's it