Argh.

[jadecat]

As I may have mentioned before, the hubs and I are relocating in a couple months. Which brings up the hard part of trying to find a new job. I've spent not long enough, probably, revising my resume. Trying to make me sound fantabulous! Or at least someone a prospective employer should call. There's just one problem...

References.

I have none. This will be a problem I think. See, the current bosses don't do recommendations. They'll verify employment start and end dates, and a few other pieces of information, but they don't do recommendations. They have their reasons, and it kind of makes sense. This just puts me in a really bad spot. My co-workers are off site the majority of the time. I'm sure they can get recommendations from the site coordinators they interact with. Me? Not so much. Plus with my coworkers always off site- I don't actually work closely with any of them at all. I can't imagine asking any of them to be a reference for me because to be honest- they don't know my work. So they wouldn't be able to comment on it.

Not only that, but I've been there almost five years- the people I worked with before are no longer at those employers (I tried contacting them awhile ago), and I have no idea how to find them. My last long term job before this one also had a policy of no references- it was a temp job and the person I worked with at the temp company left a week before I did.

I have no idea what to do. I'm not sure how to explain that I really don't have anyone that can be called as a reference.

Ideas?


(ETA- okay, apparently I haven't mentioned it here before, as has been pointed out. Hubby and I are going to be moving to Ann Arbor, MI. Back for me, new for him. :) )

Comments

[mr-spock.livejournal.com]

Go to your local job service office, and ask a caseworker there what they usually do in similar situations. I'm sure you're not the first person to work a long time at a place and not have professional references when you leave.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Hmm, there's an idea. I'll have to see what available around here.

[reynai.livejournal.com]

I definitely ran into this issue as well -- and I also had the fun of 'proving' that I worked at previous companies, since the company I worked for for two years 'outsourced' their employment verification to a third party, that required other companies to sign up for it before they'd verify, and the other set records over five years old deep into an archive that took an hour on the phone to find.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Oh that sounds like fun. I know the companies that I worked for are still there, even if the people I worked with aren't.

[h0taru.livejournal.com]

Where are you relocating to?

And do you have a LinkedIn account? It's like Facebook for work/professional stuff. I'd create one there and see if you can find the former co-workers you can't find. :)

[cherdt.livejournal.com]

I agree--I found a ton of old co-workers via LinkedIn.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I kinda forgot to mention the where- huh? We'll be going to Ann Arbor. :)

I do have a LinkedIn account. Though it's not nearly complete. I'm off today so I guess I know what I'll be spending some of my time doing...

[theliel.livejournal.com]

where yha off to?

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Back to good ole A2. :)

[theliel.livejournal.com]

oh noes! how will we evar survive?

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely sure... But I'm willing to risk it. ;)

[medievalneedle.livejournal.com]

In lieu of work references, how about personal ones? Do you have people you have known a long time who would be able to say you are honest, intelligent and hard working? Personal references from other professionals often can take up the slack.

[zen-kitty.livejournal.com]

Yes. I can give a personal reference and talk about how well you managed things for Nano. Perhaps that may help?

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

That would be amazing! Thank you so much. *hugs*

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion, I've had one volunteer (Thanks zen_kitty) and I'll try to think of some others.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

1.) Where are you relocating to?

2.) Join LinkedIn (and search for your old contacts). Search for them on Facebook as well, but your best bet for contact is probably LinkedIn. BTW, I'm on there as well so look me up.

3.) Also, if you need more info or just need to talk it out, you can call me. Email me at my LJ address and I'll send you my cell.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

We're moving to Ann Arbor- it's still in Michigan, roughly an hour away from where we currently live.

I actually am on LinkedIn, and linked to you actually. :) I will have to look through to see if I can find anyone I used to work with.

Thanks! I may very well take you up on that offer in the near future. :)

[jenandbronze.livejournal.com]

What a quandary. I am glad I have three references, I hear some parts of the US in how references or recommendations are handled is far different than it is up here. Interesting.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, here in the US it can really vary from area to area as to what people are looking for.

I'm glad you've got your references handy for when you need them. :)

[brendan-dunbar.livejournal.com]

I used to work for a call centre, and the HR department only verified employment. They would not give out references that commented on how people performed. Fortunately, they did do evaluations every six months. I always asked my supervisor for a copy. When I left that job and started looking for another one, I would explain the reference situation to potential employers and provide them with the evaluations. Is this an option for you? If your company doesn't provide these, can you ask your current boss to do one and give you a copy of it?

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, no, it's not really an option. I work for a very small company, and I've never had any sort of official review. All the employees were supposed to have annual reviews, but they rarely if ever happened- and never for me. That's a great idea though, I'll have to keep that in mind for the future.