Problems getting recent references?

So my Zyprexa has been a miracle drug for me, and I’m ready to get off disability and go back to work.

That’s a good thing, right? Well, I contacted two people from my last job asking if they would be willing to be references. One said no and the other is just ignoring me.

The last good references I have are from 2011. I have tons of good reference letters from jobs prior to that, but if an employer wants more recent ones, they’ll only be able to verify employment dates.

I can’t help but think that won’t look good, especially if I’m trying to get back to the same university where I worked before going on disability in January 2015.

Anyone else have this problem? I’m bound and determined to find a good job I can handle, but I’m sure not getting support I need for references. How to explain to a potential employer that people are holding my disability against me?

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I went back to school before I went back to work and got references that way. Perhaps you can volunteer for a while or go through a vocational rehabilitation program.

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I think that’s quite common now for legal reasons. It’s nothing personal. It’s not like the old days.

I can’t do volunteer work or go to a vocational rehab because my husband works retail hours and needs our only car. Once I get a job and start making more than disability, I will buy my own car to get back and forth, but I can’t afford two car payments on disability.

I can only hope that a prospective employer is willing to accept glowing references from 2011 and before. I don’t mind disclosing that I’m coming off a long-term disability that is now in remission. I will probably have to in order to explain the gap in employment. But I’m afraid it will look bad that I had all these people willing to vouch for me before, but not in recent days. I would think they’d be afraid of getting burned.

Logically speaking, why would I risk my disability money if I thought I couldn’t go back to work? Obviously I’m confident in my ability to do jobs I apply for.

Can you link up with the people who gave you the glowing references on LinkedIn? Can you send a message to the references asking if you can still use them as a reference?

I still use old, glowing references, but I’m LinkedIn with the people who gave them to me, so the employer can see that I’m still in touch with them, they are still familiar with me, and they are still willing to recommend my skills. It seems to help.

Actually, I think an old reference can be better than a new one. Have you ever seen this question on an application? “How long have you known this person?”

While they are nice to have I dont think any of my jobs ever called references.

References: Are these supposed to be personal references or job references?

IDK. It might look bad to only verify employment dates but if that’s all you can get from previous employers it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t hire you. If that’s all you got, that’s just the way it is. If you are friendly and personable in an interview it will help your case to get hired and being personable and competent may compensate for not having enough references.

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What I’m trying to say is I dont think they are real popular for someone to call them. So if you dont have them they may not really be necessary in the first place.

I do still have my older references willing to be contacted, so that helps. I worked for them during my last remission, so they will fully support me going back to work.

Maybe I’m worrying too much, I don’t know. It’s been four years that I’ve been on disability, and I’m being very picky about what I apply for so I know I can handle it long-term. I’m looking for something that isn’t front-line reception and is some kind of accounting clerk work. Office jobs usually do want to call references. I do have them, just from 2011 and prior. Hopefully that’s good enough.

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Yea. When I graduated college, I asked my old manager from a min wage job to write a reference as a requirement to graduate, and he laughed at me.

That’s terrible, sorry to hear that. I can’t help but feel discriminated against because of this. It will make it harder, but I interview well, so hopefully I can do without recent references.

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