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Original poster

Will my job offer be withdrawn?

104 replies

Alice558 · 08/03/2023 14:21

Hi Guys,

I am just looking for some advice really....

I was recently offered a HCA job in the NHS and i previously left my old workplace due to bullying. I was off sick for 2 months and i have declared this in my occupational health questionnaire.

Now, I left back in October, and i was in the fortunate position to leave as I had savings, enough where i could not sign on the dole. I provided 2 references for the past 3 years from my two previous jobs, however because i was unemployed from October to now they are asking me for a reference in that space. So they want one from October to January (when i was offered the job). I have explained to them I have no social circle and i know no one, i mean NO ONE (of high standing). I have asked my dentist, optician and teacher and doctor and they have all refused to give a job reference.

I have been explaining this for about a month now to them but i feel like i am going around in circles and i just want to know where i stand, does it seem likely they will withdraw the offer?

Thank you
Alice

OP posts:

Dizzywizz · 08/03/2023 14:31

I don’t get it, they can’t accept that you just weren’t working?

BatFaceOwl · 08/03/2023 14:34

How ridiculous. I'll write you one ffs

FiveHundredDucksWentOutOneDay · 08/03/2023 14:35

Is it a personal reference they are after, to explain what you did in that period?

Tapenade · 08/03/2023 14:38

I had this for a job a few years back - made even more complicated by the fact my new employer wouldn’t let me provide a personal reference from anyone I’d ever worked with…

But assuming your new employer isn’t quite as fussy, do you know anyone who works in the civil service / local government or are you still in contact with (nice!) colleagues from your old NHS role who could write you a personal reference?

Doggydooda · 08/03/2023 14:40

And people wonder why the NHS has difficulty recruiting staff! It’s crazy OP ..good luck .

ShipOfTheseus · 08/03/2023 14:57

Do you know your neighbours?
Would a hairdresser fit? Anyone with any sort of qualification?

Shinyandnew1 · 08/03/2023 15:08

They know you haven’t had a job from October to January but want an employer reference? That makes no sense!

Im not surprised the doctor/dentist/teacher have refused. You haven’t worked for them! What would they write?!

FlyingCherries · 08/03/2023 15:10

Just give them a friend’s name. They don’t need to be of high standing, just able to write something.

Twizbe · 08/03/2023 15:13

The main purpose of a reference for that time is to check you're not hiding something like a prison sentence.

Do you rent your home? If so ask your landlord. Do you have neighbours? They can do one for you if you ask.

If you were off sick during that time can you get a copy for your sick certificate for them?

Swimminpoo · 08/03/2023 15:17

Are any of the school Mums you see daily professional people?
The NHS just need to know that you weren't banged up abroad for drug smuggling or suchlike.

Preparepepper · 08/03/2023 15:19

The NHS referencing has held me back from so many of their IT jobs! I'd love to work for the NHS.

But my references don't cover a year I had off after redundancy. I have no "professional" reference for that time - it's absolutely bonkers.

In my instance - they won't accept GP, lawyer, teacher etc

😔

Preparepepper · 08/03/2023 15:23

They know you haven’t had a job from October to January but want an employer reference? That makes no sense!

Yes this is what happens to me too OP!!

I wonder if it's the same trust?

TherealmrsT · 08/03/2023 15:24

I had similar with an employment gap and ended up providing a mixture of copy bank statements (partly redacted), stamps in passport and travel documents and friend giving character reference.

As PP said, employer was looking for evidence I hadn't been in prison for a few months.

SarahAndQuack · 08/03/2023 15:42

I don't know about the NHS but have had issues with HR people had intense tunnel vision about ticking boxes. I would just get any two people to write you a personal reference, stating they know you were not employed during this period, and listing their job (even if it's Bob, 'Odd-Job Man' and Jill, 'Retired Cleaner'), and send it to them. If they want to tick a box, this will let them do it.

ShipOfTheseus · 08/03/2023 15:45

Twizbe · 08/03/2023 15:13

The main purpose of a reference for that time is to check you're not hiding something like a prison sentence.

Do you rent your home? If so ask your landlord. Do you have neighbours? They can do one for you if you ask.

If you were off sick during that time can you get a copy for your sick certificate for them?

Why would she have a sick certificate, though? She wasn’t employed.

LookingOldTheseDays · 08/03/2023 15:52

This is utter madness. I'd ask to speak to someone more senior to discuss it.

Get them to explain exactly what it is they are looking for evidence of. (That you existed during those months?!)

burnoutbabe · 08/03/2023 15:52

i have done this for friends, to confirm that i knew x person (as a friend) and they were spending XYZ period HAVING A BABY.

So its a reference for a job but you don't have to have emplpyed them - just confirm what they did in that period - so someone who knows you personally. i did mine over the phone.

LookingOldTheseDays · 08/03/2023 15:54

Twizbe · 08/03/2023 15:13

The main purpose of a reference for that time is to check you're not hiding something like a prison sentence.

Do you rent your home? If so ask your landlord. Do you have neighbours? They can do one for you if you ask.

If you were off sick during that time can you get a copy for your sick certificate for them?

This is bullshit. The NHS will CRB check a HCA, which will show any convictions. They don't need to go further than that.

Her landlord won't be able to issue a reference saying you weren't in prison because they'll have no idea.

LookingOldTheseDays · 08/03/2023 15:57

DBS these days rather than CRB obvs, but the point is the same. The NHS have better ways of establishing whether you're a criminal than by asking your cleaner for a reference.

burnoutbabe · 08/03/2023 15:57

i'd just supply a friends name - or their partners if they would qualify as being of "high standing"

or a neighbour you chat to regularly.

(though really, with todays WFH culture, no one bar someone you live with would be able to tell 100% you weren't employed AT ALL, and even then you could hide a WFH part time job from a partner quite easily if you wanted to!)

ShipOfTheseus · 08/03/2023 16:08

A pub licensee? Though if you’re off sick, at home on your own, you’re not likely to be popping down your local. I really think it’s discriminatory. How many people know solicitors, doctors, MPs etc in any sort of personal capacity? Could a postie do it?

SnowLemons · 08/03/2023 16:10

They want a reference to confirm you didn't have a job? That's really weird.

Original poster

Alice558 · 08/03/2023 16:21

Hey everyone, thank you so much for your messages.

Unfortunately, apparently it has to be a person with a professional email and i literally do not know anyone. I do find it to be absolutely ridiculous as I have already supplied 2 professional references and I need one for....the 3 month period? I can't even prove I was unemployed because i was living on savings! I have explained this but they haven't been very helpful to be honest and I am at a point where i just want to know where i stand. I have explained this over and over and it has been dragged out for a month and they just send the same email, i am suppose to be starting on the 3rd of April. What would i have to prove that i have been doing that it decides if i get the job or not, i have been sitting in my house. Also i live with my parents.

If it was to prove that I have not been in legal trouble, wouldn't my DSB form check all of that (It will come back clean)?

Thank you again

OP posts:

LookingOldTheseDays · 08/03/2023 16:23

If it was to prove that I have not been in legal trouble, wouldn't my DSB form check all of that (It will come back clean)?

Yes, it would. This isn't about unearthing whether you've been in prison, it's mindless box ticking.

LookingOldTheseDays · 08/03/2023 16:24

What do your parents do for a living? Could they assist?

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