Phone Interview went well, UNTIL...

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So I'm presently still looking for a job, and I'm mostly looking into warehouse jobs, as that's where my main work experience lies.
I had my eye on a new warehouse that's set to open next month, as it would be a nice opportunity to start with a clean slate.

The introductory interview on the phone this morning went really well, I managed to play up my strengths and sound confident and eager.

Then the topic of background checking of my previous employers came up.
And I panicked.
Because I had not parted with any of my previous workplaces on particularly good terms.
I was making excuses for why my contracts had been terminated, and scrambled to find an HR person or team leader who could say something POSITIVE about me. It was not easy.
Yes I've always worked to the best of my ability, but I was sometimes clumsy and often difficult to get along with. So in some cases, the bad outweighed the good in the eyes of the people who had to judge my performance.

This has gotten me into a state of minor panic. If I need to pass background checks for a simple warehouse job, how will I find work??

Anyone else ever worry about their less than stellar work history being a hindrance to finding future work? It's very frustrating.

Why don't you try Costco? They pay quite well. Some of the jobs involve warehouse-type tasks.

I would say most previous employers would probably just provide your prospective employer with the dates of when you started, and when you left.

Are you able to operate a forklift?

I don't think Costco has stores here in the Netherlands.

I have an EPT license, but not a forklift license yet. If I don't get a phone call within this hour, I won't have the job.

There might be a similar-type store--maybe an Ikea?

I hope they call, and tell you the job is yours.

That sucks. Around here employers are often reluctant to say bad things about a previous employee if a potential employer calls them. They are afraid of getting sued. I wonder if you could give some contact numbers of a supervisor or two that liked you, even if he or she was not your direct supervisor.

Sometimes that will work.

Well, although I gave the temp agency lady two phone numbers, one from my old cleaning company, and another from the HR person at my old factory, I was not contacted today. So I don't have the job. Even though I know the work would fit me like a glove.

I suppose that some references would turn out okay, but in some cases the issue is that the person who knew me best at an old job is no longer working for the company. I ran into this problem whilst running through my contacts this morning. The second problem is that half of my resume aren't 'regular' jobs, but jobs partly paid out of my social support, and I'm not always willing to disclose my autism for fear of rejection.

Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but I'm taking this pretty hard, considering I'm fighting to even get into the selection process for simple jobs like warehouse work. I have no education to speak of, and I enjoy warehouse work, and if they consider me unfit for a certain position, it has its effects on my self confidence.

While there is no IKEA in my direct vicinity, there are a good number of industrial terrains that house warehouses and the like which provide limited job opportunities. But right now I'm considering returning to cleaning jobs, which I also enjoy and am good at l, but which typically do not guarantee enough hours in the week to get by.

Sorry to hear that

Try not to feel too discouraged. I get rejected for jobs all the time. My resume is basically blank for the past few years because I got sick, and it took awhile to get a diagnosis and get the proper medication so that I don't have pain all the time. So I'm often immediately rejected based on my resume alone.

I have a high IQ, learn extremely quickly, am talented in a variety of areas, honest, enthusiastic, and a hard worker. But those things aren't obvious from my resume, and I seem weird to people so they never bother to get to know me enough to find out.

So I get passed over for jobs, and instead they're probably hiring some incompetent NT who only looks good on paper and manages to be pleasant enough for an interview.

Even NTs get rejected all the time for silly reasons. The hiring managers need a way to "weed people out" so they will reject people quickly to narrow down the pool of applicants in order to make their job easier.

It doesn't mean that you are unfit if you don't get hired. It doesn't even mean that they feel that way. They are just hiring based off of what knowledge they have about the applicants, and trying to make the best choice.

First of all, thanks Yigeren and Kraftie for the advice and suggestions. I know what it's like to be rejected on resume alone, and even when making it into the selection procedure, getting comments on why it's such a patchwork of shorter jobs (even though, ever since the economical crisis it's become increasingly common for companies to only hand out temporary contracts to begin with).

Secondly, it seems I must stick my foot in my mouth, since I've just been invited for the introduction tomorrow!! At first I thought the introduction was today, and that not hearing from them yesterday meant I didn't make the cut. I was pretty gloomy. Now, I'm not across the finish line yet, so tomorrow I'm gonna put my best foot forward.

I wish you luck!

Remember: bring your OTHER eye to the interview You might not get hired should you show up with one eye.

Very glad to hear that . I hope it goes well for you.

Thanks for rooting, you guys. It appears that I can start on Tuesday next week. I've already received work clothes and a tag with which to punch in and out. I signed a couple of papers too. But since I haven't actually signed a contract yet, I'm well aware that I could still be dismissed, as I was earlier this year before starting at another job where I thought I had been hired. But I'm glad!

It's very easy to overanalyse job interviews. However, I suspect, and have some evidence based on what my employer has said to me, that not all employers care that much about references, or references tend to be more positive than we think.

One person said to me they give out universally positive references to avoid being sued! :-p