The most your ex coworkers can do for you at a decently paying corporate job is get you past the resume screen. And even then, there are constant complaints at my employer about our recruiters never contacting our referrals. The person referring can certainly not be allowed even the appearance of influence over the interviews or debrief.
You might be hired on the strength of reputation or recommendation into an early stage startup, but these roles only make sense if you’re 23.
The referrals come from the c-suite. They can call up board they're on and friends that they have. I was laid off last fall and went straight HR told them where i applied and they reached out to the ceo and he called someone with me in the office. Had a job offer 1 week later
You might be hired on the strength of reputation or recommendation into an early stage startup, but these roles only make sense if you’re 23.