Headhunters who ask for references out of the gate are going to be shotgunning your resume across their hiring portfolio. Generally speaking, references and a b

Headhunters who ask for references out of the gate are going to be shotgunning your resume across their hiring portfolio. Generally speaking, references and a background check are the last thing a company asks for before hiring. It also sounds like you are applying for a lot of positions that are straw men - listed positions designed to be so specific that no good candidate can be found. It happens a lot in big companies (because sometimes HR makes it harder than it should be to promote from within) and companies that want to game the H1-B system. Finally, you probably don't want work at a company that asks software engineers to fill out applications, unless the application is very domain specific (like the YC application). That's a signal that the company doesn't value software engineering like they should.