job references - previously self employed

mumlady1

I am currently self employed but hoping to start a new job very soon. I've been self employed for the last 20 years & the companies I worked for prior to that no longer exist.
Can anyone advise me on what type of references would be suitable to an employer in this case?

DomRavioli

Can you ask clients who you have contracted with over your self employment?

WantToBeSE

Did you do any agency work during your SE time? Or as suggested above, ask a former client if possible.

mumlady1

Hi
thanks for the replies I haven't done any agency/temp work during the time I've been self employed so that rules out that option.
I think I'd be struggling to get a reference from my customers as, without going into too much detail, I work with kids & the only real contact their parents have with me is the occasional quick chat either before or after classes & this is only relevant to the class their child has taken, not to my administration skills.
Another difficulty is that I don't actually want my current customers to know I'm about to close the business, just in case things don't work out job wise & I need to keep going for a while.

InsideInsurance

The future employer will know what they like to do in these sorts of situations and especially if it is in a similar field to what you did on a SE basis.

I operate my own Ltd and so for referencing purposes I may as well be self employed (legally I am an employee of my company). When I just switched clients my new client did background checks and got me to complete the same form as they use for employees so it included references. In that case they said for anyone coming from self employed status they wanted accountants details to reference. If you didnt have accountants they said they'd be in contact to request further paperwork (you'd guess accounts/ tax returns etc)

Horace

Do you have any suppliers? if so see if one of them will give you a reference.

I also see no harm in asking the clients for references either, I know you say you don't want to let them know that you are closing but you could say that you are looking to be employed and plan to continue your self employment on a part time basis (you don't have to carry on with the self employment work).

mumlady1

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. I didn't actually consider my accountant but I'm sure he would do a reference for me, as would a couple of my suppliers. I do have 1 or 2 customers who I'm sure would keep my request confidential
I appreciate your help :T