Lack of references & an empty CV

LemonSocks

I'm at university in my third year. I haven't worked since I was 19, I'm now 24. I was at college when working but left my job when my parents separated/filled for divorce.

I have a reference from my personal tutor but I don't have a second reference. My boss from my previous job has since moved on and to be honest I don't think I was particularly memorable, especially since all this time has elapsed. Other than that we have no family friends on my mum's side. My dad only rings me once a year (if I'm lucky) and doesn't get back to me when I contact him. Even if I did get an opportunity to speak to him he wouldn't help me.

I also have a rather empty CV. I only had my last job for around 9-10 months. I have of course been at college and university but I'm really concerned about my lack of work history. I've been applying for jobs since November now and haven't had a single interview.

So I'm a bit stuck. I'm more than happy to volunteer but even that seems to require two references.

Can any one give me a few pointers on where to start. I know that I can go to the university careers office (which I'll look into next week) but I was wondering if anyone else has any suggestions.

Dunroamin

Two words - "voluntary work".

axomoxia

Although your old boss has moved on, the HR department hasn't! They should be able to provide confirmation of your service with the company. I'm in the interesting position, that my last two employers will not give a personal reference, and any current employee is forbidden to do so. The HR departments will however confirm dates and length of service.

LemonSocks

axomoxia wrote: »

Although your old boss has moved on, the HR department hasn't! They should be able to provide confirmation of your service with the company. I'm in the interesting position, that my last two employers will not give a personal reference, and any current employee is forbidden to do so. The HR departments will however confirm dates and length of service.

So if I just use that as a reference, it should be fine? I'd avoided putting them down on my applications because I was concerned it wouldn't count.

axomoxia

Are they after two _personal_ references? Or work references (i.e. to corroborate your CV)? I've given a friend a personal reference before, and that wasn't a problem - I know this because he got the job!.

I'd just apply for whatever work your are interested in, I can't see any problems.

LemonSocks

axomoxia wrote: »

Are they after two _personal_ references? Or work references (i.e. to corroborate your CV)? I've given a friend a personal reference before, and that wasn't a problem - I know this because he got the job!.

I'd just apply for whatever work your are interested in, I can't see any problems.

Most of the jobs that I've applied for or looked at want one personal and one professional/work related (if I can use the old job reference then that resolves that problem) but the volunteer positions usually are happy to accept two personal references. I only have one personal reference (my tutor). For a volunteer position would it be more to my advantage to have two personal references?

dizzyrascal

First of all you should go to your careers service because they will help work out who could be a good reference for you. They will also be able to look at your application forms and consider the types of answers you are giving. Hopefully they should be able to draw out (from you) better answers to the questions on the forms.
If you do not have much work exp. then it will be quite hard to demonstrate good answers to competancy based questions but, it does not have to be an example of work in the answers.
Can you use other parts of your life to answer the questions? House sharing can be quite useful, because it throws up a lot of problems to solve. Planning a group holiday/field trip can also work for some questions. Have you been on a committee or represented your department as an ambassador or been on a sports team? Helped to raise money for a charity?
I would start doing an audit of everything you have done whilst at university, course work and extra curricula things and you should have a list to consider. If your list is still looking a bit sparse then I would look to doing some voluntary work (as has already been suggested). Your students' union will be a good source of possible opportunities.
Hope this helps.
By the way, is your job hunting focused or are you just applying for general graduate schemes? Again a chat with your Careers Adviser will help you to perhaps look at the direction you want to go in, who you want to work for etc.
Remember that graduate schemes are heavily oversubscribed with applications from equally qualified candidates so you will need to make your applications really stand out and be focused on the organisation. You have to look upon each application form as if it were an essay. Do some research and write each application to match the job spec, person description.
I realise that all this extra work comes at a time when you have your finals coming up and coursework or dissertations to complete so it might be worth taking a break and getting back in the (application form) saddle after your exams finish.
Also, join LinkedIn and start networking with your university's alumni group as they often get plenty of jobs posted on there and follow a few employers.

Lokolo

Are people actually asking for references or are you just assuming you should have it on your CV? I never put references on but rather have "References available on request" and leave it at that.

Pupnik

Lokolo wrote: »

Are people actually asking for references or are you just assuming you should have it on your CV? I never put references on but rather have "References available on request" and leave it at that.

This is what I do too. Since you have not been able to get interviews I think references are not your biggest problem, y ou need to work on your CV in whatever way you can - as has already been said, there are lots of things from your time in university that you could use, and speak to the career's advisor and see what they say about it.

jayII

I would ask both the HR of where you used to work, and another tutor at your university. There must be another tutor that can vouch for your reliability, that you're decent, hardworking and so on.

Then you have a choice, depending on the references a prospective employer (or voluntary work placement) asks for. It never hurts to have more referees than you need. Some application forms have spaces for three references and providing three can help speed up the process, in case one of the referees is slow to respond.

Voluntary work or a part time job will fill the gaps in your CV. In this climate it is worth considering almost any work, it's usually easier to find a 'better' job when you're already employed.

As a wild card, have you considered applying abroad or looking for overseas voluntary work through VSO or similar? (I appreciate that this depends on your situation.) Working abroad gives you second-to-none life experience, can be great fun and is easiest to do when you're young and free from financial and other commitments.

DCFC79

LemonSocks wrote: »

So if I just use that as a reference, it should be fine? I'd avoided putting them down on my applications because I was concerned it wouldn't count.

Why would you think that ?

The HR holds records of staff members so would be able to tell any employer how long you worked there, what your attendance was like etc whereas your maager wont have access to those records well i presume so.

I second going to your unis careers advisor, make use of they're help. Im surprised you haven't worked for some time as you could be earning a wage.