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Pardon me if this is a naïve question. Isn't the point of references that they can be checked and verified? Why would you need to obtain explicit consent to contact the contacts when they've been provided? Isn't the consent implicit by virtue of them being supplied?

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> by virtue of them being supplied

afaik, a backdoor reference is specifically _not_ a reference that was (intentionally) supplied.

Yes - and most times candidates will sign some form of blanket consent allowing companies to go beyond the the supplied references, and potentially run a background credit check/investigation. Which I’m by no means saying not to do. But key is getting the candidate’s consent and doing those checks at the appropriate time in the process, so you don’t potentially damage the candidate through your actions

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