People invent "social proof" schemes like back-channel references because they think they'll guard them against unethical people, but they do the reverse. You e

People invent "social proof" schemes like back-channel references because they think they'll guard them against unethical people, but they do the reverse. You end up getting more smooth operator types (who can game any social proof system set up against them) and rejecting normal people. Now, I agree that unethical people do an incredible amount of damage and that you want to do everything you can to avoid hiring them. However, the data is extremely clear that once you're beyond 3 or 4 references, you're actually selecting for unethical behavior. If someone has 10 glowing references covering the past 5 years, he probably extorted his way into that. I've done my fair of "fixer" work (nothing unethical) and had a unique view into the ethical underbelly of the corporate world, and I see that shit all the time. If someone passes an intensive back-channel reference check, it's because he's scared the living shit out of people. Do you really want that kind of toxicity in your company?