Post-reference check interview request: Common practice or red flag?

Hey!

I'm just following up here. I didn't get the job in the end, which was a bit frustrating as the process took months to complete, but, they gave me feedback about their decision, and I'm already internalizing it to get better chances to land a new role in the future!

Thanks for your support! ♥️

Red flag seems a bit extreme, but it's definitely weird. My understanding is the same as yours: Once companies ask for references, you've generally passed the core interview loop and it's more of a final sanity check/formality.

If you want to, you can politely reach out, quote what they said about the reference coming after the final interview, and see what's going on from there. However, I don't think there's much to gain as companies have all the leverage in this market, and I doubt they'll say "Whoopsies, we made a mistake, here's your offer!".

My guess is there's another candidate that did well, and they want another round to tie-break. Given the current market, this seems highly plausible.

Lastly, you haven't given any references yet right? Because if you have, maybe one of your references didn't have the best things to say about you? In that case, you should think through your references and see if you should drop any of them.