I don’t know how much it matters because I have never had anyone call my references. They are good friends of mine that I happened to have worked with in the past and no one has ever called them to ask about me. Does anyone else know if their references have been checked or is it standard to ask for them but not use them?
Anecodtally … I’ve found it rare for a company to be fastidious with references. Not checking, references to my experiences, is far more common than tracking them all down and being serious about the responses. But I’m sure it all depends on the job.
I got my current professional job with no references. I started as a contractor and time was of the essence so they skipped references. HR actually contacted me a couple of months later and said that they had to have at least one reference. I asked if one of my coworkers close to me would do. They said yes and I just transferred the call where I got to sit there and listen to my own reference coming from a coworker coming from inside the same company. They later converted my to a permanent employee and they still have no outside references.