Advice on references?

[PuckishOne]

This one's for any and all CSers with "professional" or "career-track" jobs...

I'm going to be making a career change soon (starting with a return to college in the fall) and I know I'm going to need to provide references from past employers. Here's the thing: My present boss is a little unpredictable, and I have no way of knowing whether he'll give me a reference at all, let alone the potential quality. Another former boss has consistently refused to provide any reference and all that HR gives is name, rank and serial number. A third is well nigh impossible to get a hold of.

So what do I do when the time comes to list references? I've had good luck with co-workers and peers, but I'm invariably asked to provide at least one reference from a direct supervisor. This waylaid my last job search and I don't want it to be a stalling point for me now.

Any advice?

[Gurndigarn]

I'm going to be making a career change soon (starting with a return to college in the fall) and I know I'm going to need to provide references from past employers. Here's the thing: My present boss is a little unpredictable, and I have no way of knowing whether he'll give me a reference at all, let alone the potential quality. Another former boss has consistently refused to provide any reference and all that HR gives is name, rank and serial number. A third is well nigh impossible to get a hold of.

So what do I do when the time comes to list references?

The "name, rank, and serial number" is a common occurance in the business world, at least the the USofA, due to a few lawsuits from bad referrences. So most of the business world falls into three categories, with a few exceptions from people who don't know or don't care:

1) Name, rank, and serial number only
2) Name, rank, serial number, and distinct questions that can be answered with unambiguous answers. Usually, these people want to help you, but want to cover their tails by making sure everything they say is factual, and hard to prosecute
3) People who use "the code" to let you know what the person is like, by the way they answer the n/r/s# questions. E.g.: "IMSORRYICAN'Thelpyoucompanypolicy forbids me from answering those questions" or "You really need to talk to our corporate HR department for information about this employee. The Number Is 555-555-1212" means don't touch this guy with an eleven foot pole. "John Doe? Well, I wish I could shoot the breeze about him, but you the company says ya gotta talk to them about any employement issues. Ya want the number?" means that you've got someone who's at least competent, and possibly even good to excellent.

[reformedwaitress]

What I do is provide direct bosses but then also provide the names of people I worked with, especially if there is like a supervisor and then a manger or something over them that would be the "boss" name you had to give out.

Like right now, my references are the two managing partners at the firms I've worked for, but also the associates I worked directly with and other secretaries and such that would have been more likely to see my in action. Tell them when you provide the names that the "boss" can be a little unpredictable and they may be able to get more honest and complete answers from the other people.

Most companies understand that (c:

P.S. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR JOB HUNT!!!