Well, first the good news: Tim has a line on a job. (Everyone’s positive thoughts are appreciated.)
The bad news: She called today saying she needed more references. Tim’s most recent employer — two years ago — is only giving start/end dates.
Tim’s trying to get him on the phone to ask if the guy could be a little more forthcoming about some of Tim’s better qualities. But the guy may just be trying to cover Tim’s behind: The eczema made him miss a lot of work, so maybe start/end dates are for the best.
But if that doesn’t work, we don’t have a lot of other options for references. Most of the jobs he worked were highly physical and, so, not sustainable. Beyond eczema flare-ups, old injuries (knees that have been broken twice, a shoulder fracture along the growth plate) would give him fits too. But it was all he could quality for, for the most part.
He also has sales experience, but inevitably, those jobs would turn into commission-only positions (no matter that they’d sworn up and down during the interview that he’d always have a base salary). The stress would make his eczema flare.
And so we arrive at yet another problem when it comes to disability and work: job history.
If you are at all in denial about your disability — and I find that most of us are, at some point — you’ll almost certainly cheat yourself out of a good job history. You’ll try to work through the symptoms and resultant problems. Then you’ll try to work around them.
Point is, by the time you finally come to acceptance, your work history and chances at a good reference are shot to hell. You have numerous absences, poor performance and, often, a history of having to quit immediately.
None of those look so great on a resume.
Of course, you can play around with job history. I use “Relevant Work History” which often gets you out of a strict timeline of employment. If you do have to recount the last five jobs or whatever, you may find it’s better to just leave some off entirely. Better for them to think you were just looking for a job unsuccessfully than that you were doing a job unsuccessfully.
But references… That’s a real sticking point that you just can’t get around.
If your jobs have ended because of your disability, you’re not going to have a lot of options for references. It’s just that simple.
You can fill one of the slots with a personal reference. But you need at least one, preferably two, work-related references. Most employers expect three references. If you have one personal and one work reference, there’s a good chance your resume gets ignored — especially in this environment.
So what do you do? No, seriously, I’m asking you guys.
Tim refuses to lie on his resume, which was my suggestion. I said he should call up a friend to be from a sales job he worked down here.
Devious? Yes. Morally wrong? Almost certainly. But it will probably make the difference between him getting the job and not. (Especially if he can’t get his old boss to speak up for him.)
Instead, he’s trying to get in touch with the ex-boss. If that doesn’t work, we’re hoping to pin down a colleague from that job.
Beyond that, there’s not much to be done. The sad fact is that disability wrecks employment opportunities on many levels. And, thanks to various budget shortfalls, Vocational Rehabilitation programs have huge waiting lists.
I guess we hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and otherwise keep on keepin’ on.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Employers aren't legally able to give more than start and end dates, and in some rare cases whether you are eligible for rehire, or it leaves them open to potential lawsuits. I usually advise people to get a letter of reference from a previous employer, and that can substitute when they can't say more. Also a former co-worker can provide a reference as they don't face the liability that their employer does.
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Abigail Reply:
June 29th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Mrs. MT,
I realized that this morning, when this whole debacle began. This is why we're hoping that if Tim talks to his boss directly, the guy (who is the owner) will relent with some more personal details.
But we were able to get in touch with Tim's colleague, so we're hopeful that just that will be enough to sway the lady.
[Reply]
Abigail Reply:
June 29th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Mrs. MT,
I realized that this morning, when this whole debacle began. This is why we're hoping that if Tim talks to his boss directly, the guy (who is the owner) will relent with some more personal details.
But we were able to get in touch with Tim's colleague, so we're hopeful that just that will be enough to sway the lady.
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I am sending very positive thoughts your way. I'm glad Tim was able to reach his former colleague. I wish Tim all the best!
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Abigail Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Thanks Deedee!
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Abigail Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Thanks Deedee!
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You can also use someone like a teacher or a professor. If you do charity and volunteer work, use them also.
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Abigail Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Dog,
Those are good ideas. Unfortunately, not applicable to Tim — he went to a technical college and over a decade ago, and he doesn't volunteer. (Also the lady said she needed a work reference, although I suppose when you volunteer you are working, so that would qualify…)
And I suppose the ability to volunteer would depend on one's disability. That said, it seems like a lot of the disabilities that would put you on Social Security — or would screw up your work history to the extent I'm talking about — would also make it hard to be able to volunteer. But I could be overgeneralizing.
[Reply]
Abigail Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Dog,
Those are good ideas. Unfortunately, not applicable to Tim — he went to a technical college and over a decade ago, and he doesn't volunteer. (Also the lady said she needed a work reference, although I suppose when you volunteer you are working, so that would qualify…)
And I suppose the ability to volunteer would depend on one's disability. That said, it seems like a lot of the disabilities that would put you on Social Security — or would screw up your work history to the extent I'm talking about — would also make it hard to be able to volunteer. But I could be overgeneralizing.
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A coworker can be a job reference, as you mention. Usually it doesn't matter whether it's a coworker or a boss. If you need multiple references, you can use multiple coworkers from the same job. If you want local references, has Tim done any volunteering? If not, if this job doesn't come through, perhaps he could start. Even if it's 2 hours/week or whatever, the organizer could be a reference. There's no need to specify on a resume whether work experience was paid or unpaid, and employers don't expect you to. It's all "relevant experience".
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Abigail Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
The volunteering isn't a bad idea. It's something I've tried to get Tim to do anyway, given how much excess energy he has. But up in Washington, he really wasn't physically able to. His skin was constantly flaring up. Maybe down here would be different, depending on the position he could get.
Luckily, we were able to get the coworker to give a reference, which seemed to satisfy the lady. Now just another couple of steps to see if he's right for the job.
[Reply]
Abigail Reply:
June 30th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
The volunteering isn't a bad idea. It's something I've tried to get Tim to do anyway, given how much excess energy he has. But up in Washington, he really wasn't physically able to. His skin was constantly flaring up. Maybe down here would be different, depending on the position he could get.
Luckily, we were able to get the coworker to give a reference, which seemed to satisfy the lady. Now just another couple of steps to see if he's right for the job.
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Do you have copies of the recent work evaluations? It was customary at one of my previous job to include the most recent evaluation in the application for a transfer (this was a big company). So I kept a copy of every evaluation just in case. I never did use the evaluations for a transfer — I used them when I applied at a different company!
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