Agreed. I've also seen this a few times on both sides of the fence.
As a hiring manager, when I get a reference from a good report I tell HR to CT the BS and trim down the process. I talk to the candidate, have tem meet a few folks from the team and we're good to go.
As a candidate, when I come in as a referred candidate and you throw your 2 hour take home in my face I'm walking away.
At this point, being referred just means that you have a good chance that your resume is at least passing the first review, but that's pretty much it.
As a hiring manager, when I get a reference from a good report I tell HR to CT the BS and trim down the process. I talk to the candidate, have tem meet a few folks from the team and we're good to go.
As a candidate, when I come in as a referred candidate and you throw your 2 hour take home in my face I'm walking away.
At this point, being referred just means that you have a good chance that your resume is at least passing the first review, but that's pretty much it.