What to do about CV and references

[swirlingsnow]

I haven’t worked since 2018 when I had a period of very bad health including very major surgery. I’ve just drifted a long since then, doing nothing very much although I’m a part time carer for a very elderly relative.

I really want to get back into the workplace but I seem to have lost all my confidence. I’m considering some kind of care work, initially for three days each week. I don’t have a CV and feel at a bit of a loss of how to go about writing one, particularly how to address the huge gap between my last job and the present.

Also, I don’t know what to do about providing references. I’ve been quite isolated for a long time and don’t know anyone who is not family who could even give me a personal reference, let alone an employment reference.

Hi OP, I've also been out of work since 2018 but have just gotten an interview. I'm not in the care sector at all so all this might be irrelevant.

Many places will just want a reference from your last employer - this might just be a 'X worked here from Jan 2016 - March 2018' or something.

Putting my CV/ very involved job application together did take a long time but once you've done it, it's done. I would just put 'references on request' on the CV. You might even find that they want a specific application form rather than a CV.

In terms of explaining the 5 years I think try and be honest and briefly describe your period of ill health and care responsibilities.

Good luck. Worth looking around job sites for positions and what sort of things they require in terms of applying.

Find a CV template online and start by filling in the basic details of your career history. Once you have it all in one place, you can edit it to sell yourself as a fit for different roles.

I would be brief and factual about the gap and put a note that you were caring for a relative during that time.

I had a similar situation recently. I left the workforce in 2019, I did a year at university, then there was covid and I took some time out. I got a temporary job second half of 2022 and surprisingly they never bothered with requesting references, I don’t know if that is because I went through a high street agency.

Anyway that came to an end and I got offered a job in a school so I knew they would be hot on references. I firstly gave them details of the employer I left in 2019 and the one I worked for in 2022. Neither were sufficient for the referencing purposes as they were generic employer references. So I contacted my boss from the 2019 company, who had also left, and asked if he would provide reference in a personal capacity. I then asked an old school friend to provide the other, it is a school friend I have not seen for years, but we do keep in touch.

I didn’t know what I was going to do at the start, but I got there in the end.