full image - Repost: How can I handle references with a sparse past professional history? (from Reddit.com, How can I handle references with a sparse past professional history?)
Mining:
Exchanges:
Donations:
A job application I'm filling out asks to list 3 "business/professional" references. However my situation with references is dire. I feel like I don't lack other qualifications, but this formality keeps me from getting in anywhere. I've even been turned away from a position I had favorably interviewed for due to lack of references. (This is all entry-level part time stuff.)I'm 23 with a generic liberal arts degree and less-than-stellar, but above 3.0 GPA. During uni I had a lot of mental health struggles and barely made any connections. I had severe social anxiety that crippled most of my networking. My only options for references I can think of are as follows:-I worked at one part-time job for a year and accidentally ghosted my boss by missing a slack message, and even then he no longer works there so I'm unsure if I would even be able to reach him to ask about use as a reference.-I was an officer in an art-themed student organization, not a casual club but not a business organization either. I am still in contact with the former president at the time, and could likely use them as a reference, but I am worried this is too unprofessional.-Asking some of my lecturers could be an option but this seems strange, as if I'm asking for letters of rec in high school all over again. I also had no in person connections with lecturers for the last year and a half of classes due to covid, and I'm unsure if they would remember me after almost 3 years.I feel like I'm sort of screwed. Most volunteer orgs have still been closed to new members due to covid here so I couldn't pad out things with those, and almost any job above McDonald's seems to want references. Is there anything here I can work with or does anyone have advice for easily bolstering your references with barely any history?
Social Media Icons