[Naritai]

Yeah, for better or for worse that may be all a given candidate has.

[CM30]

In that case they should definitely avoid giving references until the last possible step. For those that do have other options though, I still think going with a manager/non colleague at a company you're not associated with anymore is the safer bet for these sorts of things, since recruiters won't have anyone to poach and your current boss won't know you're looking.

(Solution 2 would be to have as many different references as possible and to give different ones for different applications, so that no one gets too annoyed by all the calls/emails).

[nicoburns]

But why give references to recruiters at all? Surely it's the new employer who needs them...