He is often a reference for friends and former colleagues, and lately he has noticed the calls changing shape.
A former colleague reached out to list him as a reference. That afternoon an unknown number left a voicemail; he called straight back. The woman kept him on the line for more than thirty minutes. It was not a reference check, he wrote — it was closer to a third-round interview.
He wanted to say: I worked with this person four years ago; he was pleasant and knew what he was doing. But I do not have examples of his projects, or whether they met their KPIs, ready to hand over on demand.
A reference call used to be: is this person difficult? No? Thank you for your time. Now, he wrote, you are expected to have the full CV of everyone you have ever worked with committed to memory.