Those of you who follow my blog know that I am looking for a job, and have been for quite a while now.
My references are problematical:
Barry Trotta, my boss at ACI, has refused to give me a working phone number for him (probably in retaliation for me suing –and winning — in small claims court as he owes me over $4400.00 in unpaid wages). I have found a possible phone number for him at another firm (CR Tile and Remodeling in Lake Oswego, Oregon).
Melody Hendrickson, my boss at Prime Pay, left the company shortly after I did. Although she promised me a good reference, she is nowhere to be found. I am going to try again to find her and get a written letter of reference that I can attach to my resume.
In addition, Prime Pay itself does not give references. They just verify dates of employment.
I worked for several companies (Novellus, Wells Fargo & Company, First Interstate Bank) through a staffing agency called Talent Tree Temporaries/Talent Tree Staffing/Initial Staffing Services in the mid-to-late 1990’s and for 8 months in 2001.
Talent Tree Staffing has since been acquired by another temporary staffing agency — Advantage Staffing. Advantage Staffing does not have offices in the state of Oregon. I have just contacted Advantage Staffing to see if they kept the old files and/or hired the employment counselors from Talent Tree Staffing.
I worked for Wells Fargo & Company for 7 years. Wells Fargo & Company is another employer that only verifies dates of employment and eligibility for rehire.
I have been using two people at Novellus (Kathy Shirey and Debra Lee) as references; it has recently come to my attention that Novellus is not giving ANY reference information on me, possibly because I was working for them through Talent Tree Staffing rather than as an employee of Novellus itself.
Bank Plus Credit Services was acquired by another company shortly after I left them.
So I currently have 1 personal reference and 3 professional references.