References
I' m hoping some of you can help me regarding references. First let me explain my situation. Back in 2000 I left the high technology field and took a self-funded 2-year "sabbatical". In other words, I planned to take some time off and did so for 2 years. During this time, I kept busy with volunteer activities (firefighter, EMT, local homeowners' association activities, etc.). When I went back to work I did not go back into high tech. I took a sales job for awhile and then took a management position for a non-high tech company. 8 months ago I moved back to my hometown due to some family issues and have just now started to look for work in this area. I have an interview for a job that will require me to use skills, talents, etc., that I used during my high tech days (over 7 years ago). While I' d like to be able to select references from that period of my career, most, if not all, of the people that I worked with then have changed jobs(most of them multiple times) and I' ve lost contact with them. What do I do for references? Do I try to track down people that I worked with 7 years ago and haven' t really kept in contact with, or do I give references from these other positions that really can' t speak to skills relevant to the position for which I' m interviewing. You could do both, actually. There is a program that many people here have used called linkedin.com. With this program, you may be able to find the individuals that you used to work with. Provided that they have also registered with this site. If you can find your old co-workers, great. Contact them and re-connect. Ask them if they remember your work habits and if they are in a position to be a reference for you if needed. If you can' t find them, tell the interviewer that the individuals that you worked with during the time that you actively worked in high tech have moved on and you are not able to find them. Give the interviewer you references from your most recent non-high tech position. They, at least, can avow for your work habits, attendance, personality, team player, etc. The interviewer may be able to have access to computer programs that are more detailed than "linkedin" and may be able to track them down with that if they are really needed. After all this time, I would think that your references from your most recent jobs plus your references from your volunteering would be sufficient. | |
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Career Tips
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