I was referred by a friend. Whole process took a week in a half - due to a pending deadline on my part. I had a phone interview and was then invited onsite at the end of the week. The onsite interview was composed of 3 interviews. They were typical questions of any other technical interview questions - although slightly more tree-heavy than other companies. On Monday I was contacted asking to provide references. I thought I had it in the bag because of this but Tuesday evening I was rejected. I know that they were strong and wouldn't cause my rejection. So I guess references are asked for before the onsite interviews are processed?