How to cope with large blot on my CV ... ?

[spacedonkey]

Please help!

I haven't worked for the last year owing to depression, and in April I was made redundant when the company I worked for was swallowed up by another organisation. I'm now feeling much better and I'm applying for jobs, but I am very worried that a) I have had so much time off sick in the last 18 months or so and b) I can't provide a referee from my last two jobs - my last job, because the company has effectively disappeared and the people I worked with and for no longer work there, and the job before, because it was a small company and my leaving caused a big falling-out between me and the chap I worked for.

I don't know what to do - being unable to provide these references makes me look awful, when in fact I'm a good, conscientious employee!

How can I get over this?

sd, is there any way you can temp to get some up-to-date experience, even if it is not ideal in the long term? Glad things are looking brighter for you

Thanks marina [happy]

Good idea about the temping. I have been thinking about trying to build bridges with my last employer but one too, although I wouldn't like him to think I was only doing it to get a reference out of him!

I could also ask one of my OU tutors to give me a reference maybe? Or is that a cop out?

i meant

sd your last employer but one - does it have to be him? is there anyone else you could ask from that company?

and the OU (i didnt know you did OU) - asking the tutor is a brilliant idea

good luck

the last employer but one - there were only three of us in the whole company, and two of us left at the same time (hence his chagrin)!

Could I get away with asking the other bloke from that company to do me a ref? (He wasn't senior to me though)

Is honesty the best policy here? Or is it morally permissible to massage the truth a bit so that I don't look like such an awful prospect?

No, definitely get your OU tutor to do you a ref, there is loads of positive stuff he/she can write about your ability to organise workload, stick to deadlines etc. I'd venture to say that the standing of the OU is such that a reference from an OU tutor is quite possibly more meaningful than one from many other HE establishments.
I know you are in a line of work where temping can be lucrative and there are contract posts abounding.
As someone who shortlists and interviews on a regular basis, I am not too worried about gaps in CVs so long as they are honestly accounted for.
I have also written personal references for friends returning to paid work after a career break. Have you got someone who might do this for you?

i would ask the both blokes maybe

and ask the tutor

i wouldnt be completely honest, no, if im honest (!) but i wouldnt lie. can you not just skim over it, say it was family time or a housemove and time out or whatever

they dont have the right to force you to say (do they?)

Leave details of referees off of your CV.

Usually checking out references is really just a formality after the company has chosen someone for the job (some companies don't even bother to follow up on references).

Is there anyone that you still keep in contact with from your last job? I'm sure that if a company asks for references and you explain that the company has wound up, but you could contact x at x's home address it would be fine. (This is what DH did after being made redundant and all was fine)

Failing that you could provide details of personal referees (i.e. a neighbour or friend). Again I would leave this off of your CV and provide the info only when asked.

HTH

Peer refereeing is fine IMO. What makes me grrr is when you get a "yes this person was employed by us" piece of HR-speak minimalism reference.
So an informative couple of paragraphs from someone who worked alongside you, along with a carefully worded explanation of why there is no-one in the boss position to ask, should be fine.

I could certainly get personal references, yes. Would you advise honesty re: my - ahem - mental health problems over the last year or so? My instinct is to be honest about it, at least at interview stage.

The other thing is that I am looking for admin work; I don't want to go back to the type of work I was doing because that was a contributory factor in making me ill. Or at least I couldn't contemplate going back into it at the same level as I was before (my knowledge is too out of date now to do that even if I wanted to).

Would employers be suspicious of my motives in wanting to change from a more skilled technical job to a less well paid, less skilled admin job?

Oops post crossed. OU tutor would be perfect.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts on this - I'm feeling more positive about it already!

If they are excessively suspicious about your motives then they are the wrong employer right now for you SD.
Speaking personally I would have no problem with shortlisting and appointing a candidate with previous mental health issues. It is a very common health problem statistically speaking - and more to the point, it is against the law to discriminate against suitably qualified candidates with stated mental health conditions. I would say a possible issue for you could be that you will be fobbed off with "overqualified" by employers who don't want to recruit someone who has been honest about their previous mental health status.
Judy Fisher Associates fields some cool temps in the areas of arts and culture admin - google them and give them a ring. They send people into organisations where everyone is a bit zany IYSWIM!

thanks marina!

We had a total loon from them and he was adorable, and very good at his job. Best of British, so nice to see you around again

Life-Work Balance, spacedonkey

i will say that you did volunteer work for one of my projects. and an excellent volunteer you were too. - that covers the last few months!

there see! all sorted - i will y'know.

Hello, dear donkey

Can't help with professional stuff but it is very nice to see you!

i interview a lot of people for positions at work

i think the best thing would be to be honest, but put a positive spin on it

ie. i have had time off for sickness, however, i am now fully recovered - during my time off, i've realised how much i love being at work, and i can't wait to get my teeth back into xxx

also, don't lie about references - we check everyone and one woman did lie (which was a pity) - if she hadn't, she would have been employed, but she did lie, and therefore we had to question her integrity

good luck

Dh has a lot of these black holes on his CV too. If a company has vanished, he just lists it anyway- not his fault (I hope! [wink) that they went under.

Dh has a history of depression too which led to him losing a job: he was only there for a few weeks, therefore job has vanished off the CV. Poof! just like that! Mainly coz we had to take employer to tribunal for him to get paid, and boss sent threatening letters to me (knowing I had two weeks before ds3 was due...)

Don't worry too much, one job / temping position later and with the OU ref, it'll all be distant history.