Hey so a thought just occurred to me, and this is something that may be seen as “digging” or whatever so if I'm out of line, let me know.
When filling out applications, I always strike out with the “references” part because a lot of the companies I worked for are a) no longer around
b) old bosses got sacked or moved jobs
c ) the old bosses will give a bad recommendation due to personal issues
d) Burnt bridges due to hostile work environment from other coworkers
And I realized something: I can't help anyone financially because I can't really afford to feed and clothe myself reliably. So… what I thought would be cool was to offer myself as a… “hired” reference. I can pretend to be whatever they need me to be (provided some details – enough to bullshit on ) – obviously I wouldn't charge for it.
So I'm thinking if anyone needs a reference… well. Fake it til you make it, right? I'm leery about giving out personal information about me, but it's a “Service” I'm interested in providing for people. It seems to be the only way I can help, except for looking over people's resumes and whatnot.