References.. References.. References.!!!

[Guest markshelley]

Hi all,

 

Is there anyone out there in the same predicament as me, here goes...........

 

Im a 34 year old, left school at 16 did a year working away. Then i started my joinery apprenticeship at 17 - 19 (then left in not too good circumstances). Re-located to another county and got to be self-employed then worked for many companies hear and there, then moved to southern ireland for 2 and half years (no records of employment or contacts). Came back to U.K and started working on the books for a company, then went on to become an assistant site manager, then promoted to a site manager and have been a site manager for the past 4 years (company has since merged with another and all my line managers have dissappeared).

 

So as you can see by the above my problems in getting sufficient if any REFERENCES to back my case as a joiner (cos its more points) are few and far between, and ive said this to my visa agent and all they say is try and get them to say that you spent half your time as a joiner and half the time as a Manager.

 

So after all my rambling my question is - "How many references do i need? What do they need to exactly say? (bearing in mind i havent been on the tools for the past 6 years)

 

Any help whatsoever would be greatfully appreciated.....

 

Mark and Shelly.......

[Guest Sharon and Paul]

Hi Mark, I had 4 references done by old foreman . The thing is i am now doing cnc work but i am going across on my visa as a sheet metal worker, so i told them that i still worked in the sheet metal dept and i keep my hand in which is true!. The tra can be very expensive if they don't get all the right info .Can you not find any foreman or supervisor to help you , Send them loads of photo's of you working on your tools , i take it thats what you are going across as ? .I think your agent needs a kick up the bum he should be helping you a bit more . allso send in a list of tools you will take with you to Oz ? It will take time but stay focused keep working on the references there must be someone who can help you ? I now the building trade is very good so finding a job won't be hard for you. Good luck mate atb Paul

[Guest CHORLEY GIRL]

Hi,

 

Sorry i can't help with your problem sounds like your having a nightmare! Keep plodding along and i'm sure you'l get there but your agents should be offering more help and advice by the sounds of it. Good luck!

 

I was wondering if anyone got in touch with any of these managers to check if these references are genuine. Tom has obviously got to get references together and has several managers above him. His manager directly above him is a preety close mate and has agreed to sign his reference, however Tom doesn't want the company knowing just yet for several reasons.

 

His manager is worried about the come back on him and if they will contact the company, as really Tom should have got one of the higher Managment team to sign it. Just wondered if any of your employers had ever been contacted.

 

Thanks Jo

[Guest markshelley]

hi Jo,

 

I havent asked my current employer for a reference as ive only been working for them for 2 months, but even if i had worked for them longer i wouldnt ask them cos i wouldnt want to rock the boat so to speak, but my agent has said that i can sign a declaration stating the circumstances that i dont want to make life difficult by asking them, etc,etc.

I have got 6 references in total so i hope that is enough.

 

Keep me informed of your progession, What does ur hubby do? Is he going to do a Skills test?

 

Regards

Mark and Shelley

[Guest Grim2468]

Hi paul i;ve read that you are in cnc i work in that industry programming and setting are you getting a 175 visa,this is the one we;re going on just wondering if you looked at any jobs over there yet,i and what the job prospects are like.ive looked at a few jobs but they always state you need res to apply which we wont have untill next year,a mate of mine went out to NSW 18mnts ago and he reckons i shouldnt have any probs cheers

 

John and Mandy

[Guest CHORLEY GIRL]

Hi Mark and Shelley,

 

My Fela is a Property Manager, Don't like mentioning that word i think it's like a swear word from what i can gather there not well liked over in Oz. Anyone can feel free to jump in at any time and correct me:jiggy:

 

Our agents haven't mentioned anything like that but other people i have spoke to said their employers were not contacted regarding references. Tom isn't work based assessed he is just assessed on paper, by qualifications and references etc, is that what you mean? Some jobs are i think they actually come to your place of work don't they?

 

Tom really needs to include his current job as he has been their a while so there is no getting out of that one for him.

 

Jo and Tom

[Guest markshelley]

Jo and Tom,

 

Did you manage to submit things before sept last year as thats when they brought in the skills test scenario?

 

Which area are you looking at going to?

 

Mark and Shelley

[Guest CHORLEY GIRL]

Hi Mark and Shelley,

 

No only just submitted first application to Vet and we have no idea on areas, we have been given so much info on all different areas so still researching.

 

How about you?

 

Jo and Tom

[Angela]

Its tricky when you are self employed, my hubby sub contracted on & off for years but for the latter of 7 + years he was self employed in P&D. Our SIR495 visa was granted last year, I do recall the majority of his references came from the employers he subbed to, luckily there were 4/5 & they were happy to oblige once I explained what was required & why.

The best thing is to ring them, you might be surprised, just give yourself plenty of time as the one frustrating thing for us was them actually writing it !! I had to really explain the urgency otherwise they would have taken much longer than our agent wanted them to.

 

Good luck

[Guest CHORLEY GIRL]

Hi,

Just regarding the references, Angela you mentioned the references took longer than expected as you had to make it clear the urgency. Just a tip :idea:to those of you getting references depending on how relaxed your employers are Tom has volunteered to write them. This way it saves them time, he can include as much detail as he wants and cover all points required. The employers were more than happy for him to do this.

Our agent has said when we finish the ref email it to her she will check them and advise us if we need to add a few bits we can then take it to the employers and they can print it of on their headed paper, can save a lot of time. Probably alot of you already know this but it's something i wouldn't have thought unless my agent had suggested it.

 

Jo and Tom

[ken&wendy]

I realise the question is about you not having enough people to write references for you, but what we did was to write an exaple of the reference needed ourselves and ask them to print it on their headed paper. That way we got what we needed them to say.

Wendy

[Guest motlyman]

I had a problem like this as most of the garages i had worked at over the years had dissapeared. My agent said if i could track any of my workmates down they will accept stat decs/affa davids signed by them in front of a solicitor. This was a difficult job going back 20 odd years but i managed it through word of mouth (mechanics are like old women when it comes to gossip:biglaugh:) and here i am in oz.

Its all good

 

Colin

[niknjas]

Hi

I had to do all that for my OH. Before we met he kept no records at all. We had the same problems. I tried the tax office and they took months and were about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. We did a CV for the companies that Jason had worked for as a subbie, some of it through guesswork and some of it from help from a friend of a roofing company who Jason had worked for on and off for 10 years. We had too do a stat dec and get it signed in front of a solictor saying that all the info that we had provided was the truth. Jason also had to think about people he had worked with for the same company and they then did references for him. There was some compnaies that like youself that Jason did not patricularly get on with in the end so we just did not get references from them. We supplied 1 x supplier reference, 3 customer referecnes and five work references - this may have been a bit over the top but the way that we looked at it was the more the better.

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

Jason & Niki