Is it common for a company to call your references if they do not intend to hire? Or do they call when they intend to hire?

Company called references day before my interview. When i had the phone interview a few weeks ago, I was told I was the only one in the running that came close to the qualifications- and they did want to wait a bit to try to get more applicants.

Interview went well. Joked with them, answered the questions, when the one guy walked me out (the one I had the phone interview with), he told me I had done really well. He said they had other interviews to do and they would call Thursday or Friday.

Ugh, i have constant butterflies in my stomach. The location is awesome and the pay- let's just say it's a rather big jump from what I'm making now.

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Not all those that wander are lost.

I think most companies would do it with with the top applicants, they don't do it for everyone because it would be a waste of their time. Good luck!

Our company calls references before they set up an interview to get a feel of the persons work habits and personality basically. If they don't like what they hear then they don't call them for an interview.
Good luck! Hope you get it!

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"Let me watch my children grow to see what they become
Lord don't let that cold wind blow til I'm too old to die young'

Well I hope that you get the job, I know that these things vary by company although I think that most dont call unless they intend on hiring you, but I know that some call references all the time. maybe a good way to tell is How many references you had to give and how many of them they called. If they got a bad reference I dont think they would call any more. But Hope it goes well for you.

If they called before the interview, I'd suspect that they routinely call references for anyone they bring in for an interview. If they called after the interview, then I'd say they only do it for strong candidates.