So while applying for another job in the medical field, it really hit me how much bs references are. Some people don't even want any references but they will require supervisor or above and then they will also require more than one and some people will absolutely not budge at all. This is something that really isn't talked about much when people want to say homelessness is just a choice.
What if you have an employer that is bitter that you left, they don't necessary have to give a bad referral but they can just refuse to answer anything. Also what if you are looking around for options, many employers will refuse to give out details on the job such as pay, or benefits without going through the whole hr process. So you would have to make your boss aware that you are looking at other opportunities which can leave your employer bitter. It also isn't easy to just fake stuff, some hr departments will investigate the shit out of your references, and they will become insanely intrusive. I had a friend use me as a reference and the person I was talking to flat out told me he didn't believe my employment history because this dumbass decided to not ask how to spell my previous company's name. He spelt it wrong when he was looking it up in an llc search website.