For the record, the fastest way to burn a bridge with me would be to find random people at my last/current company I didn't give you permission to talk to, and

For the record, the fastest way to burn a bridge with me would be to find random people at my last/current company I didn't give you permission to talk to, and go out and talk to them. If I find out a person at a company I am supposed to work for does this, I won't say anything, I just wouldn't show up my first day or any day in the future. All relationships start with trust, and while I understand you are trying to protect your business, you are also putting candidates at personal risk while lowering the value of their network. References are challenging, and I don't plan on relying on them any more than making sure a person can come up with 3 or 4 people that will say something positive about them. I don't care if they are not telling the truth, but it is nice to know that the entire world doesn't hate them. *In most cases, I have strong bonds with people I currently and previously worked for, and I am highly likely to get an email if you reach out to them. If they don't send me an email, I didn't know them and you won't get good information. If someone ever calls me and does this, I will first lie to them, then second I will pick up the phone and call the person who they are trying to get references for.