I could obtain "letter of confirmation" from my previous employer and my university which would confirm that I was indeed there and not lying on my CV, buy they will only give dates and salary confirmation.
Nobody is going to write me a specific "letter of recommendation" as nobody knows me (or liked me well enough). I go to work for the money, not to suck up to a manager so he writes me a nice reference when I leave. I guess I am old-fashioned in that regard.
So now when I apply for jobs, do I need to accept that it's not worth applying for any job that requires a professional reference?
Are most people's references just dates of confirmation (i.e. my employer doesn't give proper references and I stayed there for years!) or have I really ****** my chances up? I have a checkable work history, just no personal references.