They've been slow on "poaching" experienced folks as well. One person I know was offered a king's ransom to switch to Google, refused a "please stay" premium from the home company, and it still took half a year to walk through the door.
Having an internal reference may have helped, as did the fact that I told them I was actively interviewing and had offers.
So you can absolutely get hired in engineering without internal references. (I'm also on a hiring committee myself.)