Advice for dealing with lack of references

Hey all, looking for some advice. I joined a well-known MM bank (WB, Baird, Piper) out of undergrad and was there for about a year. Separately, was dealing with a lot of mental health issues that definitely affected my performance at work. I made the decision to leave about a year in and went back home, went to therapy, spent some time with family and since the new year have been actively recruiting again. I received an offer from an advisory firm that seems like a good fit but am struggling with reference-checks. I've already gotten an offer rescinded in the past due to off-channel checks and negative feedback and with this one, I'm struggling to navigate these references. The individual I relied on for my prior reference check isn't responding to my messages and I'm not sure what I can do here.

Thanks a ton!

3 Comments
 

Was in a very similar situation after getting laid off from my BB in New York. Just told the firm I got an offer from that the BB’s policy was to only provide references from HR over email (date/position check). Didn’t have any issues and honestly the era or heavily relying on references is slowly dying. People know that you’ll only provide good references so the value in it definitely gets lost.

Think this is especially true for junior roles.

 

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