You are entirely correct that Human Resources departments everywhere have been Properly Lectured by their Lawyers ... and that they formally re-play those Lectures to each and every hiring manager.   (I have dutifully and politely sat through a great many of those Official Lectures.)   You are likely to only get “employment verification.” from any Former Employer, because that is the only thing that they are (maybe-)obliged to give.   Nevertheless, I find that, if you engage a candidate in simple, human conversation, and if you can persuade the poor soul to “just relax,” then you can fairly quickly get a sixth-sense about the candidate’s personality and probable level of technical knowledge.

I would stress – and stress again – that “level of technical knowledge” is not the main thing that I personally look for!   “I can teach any a*shole how to write a computer program” ... (I used to teach college courses, remember?) ... but I don’t want an a*shole on my team!   :-D

Furthermore, I know that “how we do things ‘here’ is unlike any and every other place where you have hung your hat.”   I know that I am going to have to teach you a lot of new things ... and I need to know that you are willing to shut up and learn.

Now, I do not hire “newbies straight out of college.”   (That is to say, I’ve never had to.)   Academia unfortunately teaches you that you must do everything yourself (calling it “cheating” when you don’t), and it grades you only as an individual, for what you have stuffed into your head.   (Current American practice also tells you that everything in life is a multiple-choice test, but I digress.)   The real working-world is not at all like that.   You work as a team, you collaborate, and you have reference sources readily at-hand.   If you don’t have the answer, someone else on your team probably does ... or, can get it for you.   (I always lay-down the “five minute rule,” which says, “if you’re stuck for more than five minutes, ask.”)   No one is a rock-star.   Good teamwork produces something that is much bigger than the sum of its parts.   But, there are a lot of “good programmers™” out there who have absolutely no idea how to do it.