References after being self-employed

[GoGoGoFigureItOut]

I've been offered a part-time role subject to references. It was a job I interviewed for in June and was told I was a very strong candidate but they've gone with someone with more experience. I then received a phone call on Tuesday saying they've had a "reshuffle" and would like to offer me the job.

When I originally applied for the role, I'd lost some clients and was struggling to pay the bills so could really have done with the job. I'm now in a much better position as I've picked up another client but I'm not sure how long this will go for, and one of my other income sources has majorly dwindled so I thought I would go for this role and then if I really hate it (I'm not so keen on the idea of going back to being employed after a long time of being self-employed) I can leave.

However, I'm a bit stuck with who to put for references. I don't want to ask any of my clients as I'm still working with them (and the ones I've lost were for a completely different job role, helping elderly people around the home, so I can't really ask them). I could provide details for my last two employers, but I don't have any specific people that I could use so it would have to be just the HR department. I know for a fact that one of them will definitely only confirm the dates I worked there, and I suspect the other will be similar.

Am I okay to just provide my last two employers as references, even though it won't be a specific person and they probably will only confirm the dates of employment, or will it look bad if I don't provide specific people?

References are usually provided by the HR department, it won't look remotely unusual or bad if you do this. I would say though, that if they are from a long time ago, thew new employer might want something more current.

Okay, that's good to know. Every time I've had to fill in info for references previously there's been a space for an individual's name so I assumed it was more usual to have a specific person.

One I left at the end of 2016 because I was starting my own business (but I was with them for a long time), and the other I worked for for 6 months, ending in 2018. Is that too long ago, do you think? I have no one else to ask really as I've been self-employed (other than the 6 months) since 2017 and I am certainly not going to be asking the clients I'm still working with to provide a reference for me.