So he wouldn't even tell you why he didn't want to give any of that info?

No, just that he never gives out that information.

Just to confirm, you never got anything even resembling a CV from this person?

No, nothing. He send me a github profile which had some code on it.

Maybe he simply doesn't have references? In some countries there is no such "system". For example in Finland, in my 7.5 years of various applications and work in IT, I have only been asked twice for references. I do have some, but it hasnt seemed that critical. Maybe in his native country it is that way?

@JuhaUntinen valid point, but the candidate isn't applying to a local position and should consider to comply with different expectations.

@OnoSendai Actually no. See, local conditions do not matter. I am german. We generally do not have reference letter. WHich means i do not have them - for a more than 25 year career as freelancer. Period. You want them? TOUGH LUCK - go and hire someone else.

So why the question? Are you just looking for validation that it's normal to reject someone over this?

Just to be clear, I am not asking for a reference letter. I asked for which company he worked for before or where did he do his freelance projects.

@TomTom as I totally would, in that case, if that's a hard requirement. When I applied to my current position in the US I had to provide references, something that is still not a common practice in my country of origin.

My advise is to never hire without verifying they can actually code. I've had a couple of people interview that talked a great game, but failed miserably at basic coding exercises. GitHub account only shows they know how to share a link; it doesn't prove they did it or that they even uploaded it. The addition that they aren't providing references or a CV sounds even more like a scam.

Technical expertise is only part of the equation. You also want a person that is actually pleasant to work with. His refusal leads to believe he either has made a stack of enemies in his past he doesn't want you to find out about, or just doesn't understand social/professional norms. Neither case sounds like a good hire. Is there a reason you don't just take a hard pass on him and move on?

@UnhandledExcepSean In the case of sharing a Github account, the point is to use that as the basis for your discussion with the candidate. You will find out in 2-3 minutes whether he had anything (or very little) to do with the code in the account he shared.

Honestly this person either sounds like they have made a lot of enemies in their past or that they're lying through their teeth about their experience and/or skills. I wouldn't risk hiring this candidate unless they could at least prove their skills firsthand or get someone professional/official to vouch for them. It isn't worth the aggro of potentially being tied to a phony or someone who is difficult to work with IMO.

Other options include having worked for a company that is know for something illegal or morally questionable (with or without the employee's knowledge), being unable to share the information due to NDA's or similar, not actually having any real-world experience, thinking some mediocre experience would look worse than no experience, having had a horrible boss that will only say bad things about them or it being some sort of scam. We'd just be speculating if we try to tell you which one is true though, so ultimately you'll need to figure out for yourself whether the risk is worth it.

Possibly related: workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/113577/… ?

Just pass on the candidate. Even if I burned some bridges at my former work places, I would list where I worked or who I worked for. I just wouldn't give people I clashed with as references.

Forget about what is reasions might be. Just think, if he is this difficult to hire, how much worse is he going to be when he is actually working for you?

How old is this person? If they are young then their relucance could be either embarassment due to having only worked menial jobs or a significant gap in their employment.

I did no task, but based on the appearance I would have guessed mid to late 20ies.

Run. There may be valid reasons for them to not give references, but there's no valid reason not to give a resume/CV. Even a high school student with zero work experience should be able to come up with something to put on a resume. If they don't want to give it to you, that's a huge red flag.

I want you to think about how critical this hire is - you should be scouring for any reason to reject a candidate right now. I know of a (Dutch!) IT company that went under because of a bad first and second hires!!

@Philiiiiiipp Then it's possible they have a gap in employment that they don't want to explain, or think that having worked lots of menial jobs will look bad.

Could very well be. They definitely do not want to explain something.