People have always gone through their in-network to seek advice and find others to work with, since the beginning of time. It's how nearly anything really great or interesting gets done, actually.
Maybe we should shoot for doing better than how it's been done in the past? I think we can as an industry do a lot better than where we are currently.
I'm interested in hearing how you think the search for the most qualified candidates can be improved. Interviewing is, necessarily, a messy process and full of uncertainty.