Securing employment with lack of references

robum

I have interviewed with a few companies for an analyst or developer role and do a great job in the interview but hit roadblocks when professional references are sought after the interview. I've tried to make certain concessions that are very favorable to the employers in order to compensate for this deficiency, but have not had any success.

I left the industry and the past couple of years I've pursued multiple entrepreneurial ventures in other industries. In each case I ultimately succumbed to choosing bad business partners and now I'm wanting to get back into a technical position. The majority of jobs in my area are non-technical or low-skilled positions, which I've applied to on multiple occasions. Out of those positions that I've secured an interview for, I've literally been told that I'm over qualified during the interview or my qualifications in general are questioned for trying for a lower position.

I fully accept my past shortcomings and am trying to improve my marketability as much as possible. Only having an associate's degree was an issue in previous positions no matter how well I performed. As a result, I've enrolled in an online program in software engineering to complete my bachelor's degree and have been expanding my knowledge in general. I've also researched a few certifications but have had trouble determining the effectiveness of each one.

I greatly appreciate any feedback that anyone is willing to give and thank you for your time.

techfiend

Try to check in with managers you had good relations with at your previous jobs even if they aren't IT jobs. I share this problem but just a few minutes ago got off the phone with a manager that fired me and he was more than welcome to be a reference. He was even offering me non-IT jobs but I wasn't interested in them. He and I had a great working relationship and did things outside of work which is probably uncommon. It might speak volumes to have a manager that fired me as a reference and he will probably be a reference for a long time because of it but opinions on this would be welcome.

What are your qualifications and what jobs are you applying for entry level or at about the level you feel fit for?

They know no one is perfect but show them that you learned from your mistakes if given the chance. It's ok to talk about a negative as long as you turn it into a positive. You are human after all, if you have no negative experiences they might think you are hiding something.

Are you able to use sources of freelance projects you have done to show them your skills?

The few development openings I've looked at lately some are telecommute once you come in for an interview. Is this something you would consider?

Are you willing to relocate? There's lots of jobs in the twin cities and dallas fort worth areas, some people say around DC is hot right now too which would be close to you.

robum

The big problem that I'm having is that I've started a couple business ventures since my last official source of employment almost 2 years ago. I'm 29 and have a wife and two kids so I've decided that taking these risks isn't ideal anymore. I've reached out to my previous supervisors but have been unable to make contact.

In my last position I worked my way up from a technical support agent to a senior analyst/developer. The primary functions of that position was performing data analysis and report generation, combined with developing custom web-based applications. When applying for a position, I've provided an online portfolio and have detailed the various technologies I've worked with to demonstrate my knowledge.

I'm not stuck to one subject area and would consider getting away from development. This lack of a specific route may be a huge flaw right now but that has only resulted due to the issues I've faced resuming my previous specialties. My plan is to complete my bachelor's degree and earn a master's degree afterwards. My goal is ultimately to work towards a managerial position in a technical discipline, with continual potential for upward mobility.

To be honest, I'm not looking to start at the top and have no problem working my way up again. I believe this progression provides useful insight that can't be gained when entering directly from the outside. I just can't seem to get my foot in the door anywhere and that is what brought me here. At this point I would be open to relocating but as silly as it may sound, I wouldn't know how to go about that process. I am constantly getting contacted by recruiters but I haven't had good experiences with them in the past so I ignore them. I could be mistaken and perhaps someone else could provide positive experiences. The primary employers that I've interviewed with so far have been local municipalities, which I believe is the primary reason that the lack of references have been so detrimental. My experience is that everything has to fall within a certain policy and no variance is allowed.

After each interview I come out with a renewed sense of ability and confidence, but I'm unable to translate that into the next step. I'm willing to work for free at this point just to be able to gain the references needed to secure a paid position with growth potential.

techfiend

Are there any colleagues you worked with still at previous jobs? As long as you had a good working relationship with them it should be about as good as someone you worked under. You mention finishing a degree, any professors that you could contact to ask? Ironically I don't think references are all that often contacted for entry level positions but it looks really bad not being able to provide any.

Otherwise I can't think of a time when I didn't have to provide references for in the IT field, outside of it, yes, I can understand why you wouldn't want to go that route but it would get you some references. Volunteer? Freelance?

the_Grinch

A professional reference is really any non-friend or family member who can attest to your being a professional. College professors, priests/rabbis/etc, coaches, and basically anyone you've worked with should be enough.

robum

This is the part where I wish that I didn't work remotely or do online classes. Before my departure, I was thrown under the bus due to personal issues between me and my supervisor. Long story short: my previous supervisor was fired, I floated around for over 6 months, was then transferred to another team, supervisor wasn't able to handle a remote employee, didn't get adequate support, went through the proper channels for over a year, was offered a promotion to another team, turned down the promotion due to the compensation being far below market rate, was blacklisted, supervisor at the time pounced on the opportunity and threw me under when a big project wasn't completed even though I was preaching about it for months, reached my breaking point, sent a resignation email and left after gathering my stuff. I had some side ventures that I wanted to pursue so I figured now was the time and that was it. Those ventures didn't pan out and now I'm at my current point. I should have responded more appropriately but didn't and now I'm reaping the consequences of my poor decision.

I'm open to volunteering or doing freelance work but I haven't been able to find any legitimate sources for the latter. My experience has been "we want you to create a new social network to replicate Facebook for $200 total cost" or some other ridiculous project. I used to spend a lot of time on StackOverflow answering questions until the direction of the site changed IMO so I have no objections to volunteering as well.

lsud00d

In my experience employers asking for references are far and few between.

What types of jobs/roles are you going for? If you were a senior analyst/developer as you say, what's stopping you from brushing up your dev skills and getting another remote job? They are even more plentiful than they were several years ago.

robum

I think the biggest problem is that I'm limiting myself to my area only, which is not a huge hub by any means. I am completely open to working remotely again. I'm still very passionate about technology and try to stay up to date as much as possible. Truth be told, I need to expand my search and apply for more applicable positions. I've tried the recruiter route and thought it was a big waste of time.

Are there any job resources that you would suggest?

Jon_Cisco

On the reference issue I think you need to step back and rethink things. Just because life didn't go as planned is not reason to have 0 references.

Try setting up linkedin and contacting anyone you know. If this is really a problem it's time to start putting yourself out there somehow. I don't know what the failed side businesses were but usually when people make the jump to working for themselves they build more contacts not less.

In the end for entry level this should not be what is holding you back.

Good Luck!

techfiend

Have you considered joining an open source project? Specifically one that has at most a few maintainers but active and something you are interested in. While it won't pay the bills it could become a really good reference and could amount to much more. The few open source dev's backgrounds I've learned about have all been professional developers, some in hiring positions, doing open source as a hobby.