Do you routinely distrust code written by people who take money for coding, on the grounds that it might have been written with an eye to securing work?
I routinely distrust the gushing claims by paid TV advertising actors about how the Magic Bullet changed their entire life. That hardly implies I think the product is trash, but the alleged results are obviously designed sucker less discerning consumers.
And the general answer your question is yes, as far as I'm aware, employers routinely seek references to back up the claims made by potential hires.
I have no doubt kareemm is a fantastic at his job. I have simply seen to many cases where a case study is used to create sales. Again nothing wrong with that. It just kind of makes me sceptic when I see fantastic results combined with a a sales message.
Thats just me.