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First time posting on this portion of City-Data, so please be easy if not correct format or locations...
My last position was at a start up software company and to make a long story short company was basically a scam and dissolved in about a year. While the company was setup to fail I gained a lot of experience and focus a lot my resume to that position. HOWEVER, when companies go to check reference or look up company they get NOTHING. Company is not on the internet or do I have any contacts to main players , I just some co workers they are able to talk with. While most companies understand the situation , I currently have a company demanding information or proof of work.
What can I do to prove existence of the company or prove that I was employed... I was paid under pay pal or western union , have the stub/receipts but gives no real company info or exchange\e of service type agreement.
Now does everyone think this will be a ongoing problem for me or is this company being over zealous.
I would show them whatever receipts you can via paypal or western union (which is extremely shady as i have never heard of any legal business doing this) + give them some co-worker contacts that can vouch for you.
I do not recommend lying by giving them your friend's name and coaching your friend...they may look up that friend online in linkedin, etc. and find that they do something else, etc.
Just be honest and they should understand to some degree that stuff like this happens. Companies go under all the time (although your situation is a little more unique with red flags).
When you were awarded unemployment benefits, the "Notice of Monetary Determination" would have had the company's information on it along with your wages for the qualifying period. Just explain the company just shut down, but here's the official state unemployment award that shows the company did exist and that you worked for them. Its not he best evidence but it's from the state.
Did they issue you a 1099 for your work? Contract employee??
I second this. There should be some kind of tax record. If you were an employee the IRS can generate a W-2. If you were contract there should be some kind of 1099 tax form.
If you don't have either of these and someone was just handing you money under the table via paypal you're out of luck.
Thanks for the help, I was not attempting to get anyone to "pretend" to be associated with the company. I have contact information for other co workers just not upper management or owners.
As far as the W2 ( or any other tax information) can a potential employer look up this information or would I have to provide this myself?
The company itself was more ignorant than shady... Was a technology "start up" so thought pay pal / bitcoin added to their ideals ... However once the investments started to come in , most of the funds were horrible mismanaged ( possible illegal used) and founders slowly abandoned the company... Literally got a email saying company was dissolved got a " final severance pay" literally next morning all the phones and sites where shut down.
I hate to leave this out of my resume, due to the fact I gained valuable skills and experience .... Also a good origin story/situation on how I became an "employee"
Having said all of this, its a tricky scenario.... I might be blowing this out of proportion and not as big of an issue, but if a grocery store is going through this much trouble can only imagine when go to a more significant position or company.
First time posting on this portion of City-Data, so please be easy if not correct format or locations...
My last position was at a start up software company and to make a long story short company was basically a scam and dissolved in about a year. While the company was setup to fail I gained a lot of experience and focus a lot my resume to that position. HOWEVER, when companies go to check reference or look up company they get NOTHING. Company is not on the internet or do I have any contacts to main players , I just some co workers they are able to talk with. While most companies understand the situation , I currently have a company demanding information or proof of work.
What can I do to prove existence of the company or prove that I was employed... I was paid under pay pal or western union , have the stub/receipts but gives no real company info or exchange\e of service type agreement.
Now does everyone think this will be a ongoing problem for me or is this company being over zealous.
Thanks for the help !!!
Did you file a tax return? Did you have a W-2 or 1099? If you were not a contact person, but an actual employee, they should have provided you with a W-2. If you were a contractor, they should have provided you with a 1099. Did they withhold payroll taxes?
Having said all of this, its a tricky scenario.... I might be blowing this out of proportion and not as big of an issue, but if a grocery store is going through this much trouble can only imagine when go to a more significant position or company.
As a business owner, I am not going to waste my or my staff times (unless an essential executive or employee) playing detective trying to validate your prior employment. You need to do that yourself and have it organized in such a way that it presents clear and understandable documentation. But you need to do the leg work otherwise all I'm seeing is a person attempting to fabricate some BS employment and think they will get over on us.
So what are things you need? Anything such as 1099's or W-2s. Documents from the payment sources hopefully showing who sent the payment. Do you have or can you get the company's EIN? Is there a state/county or municipal business license listed anywhere? Were they members of an organization such as the Chamber of Commerce, did they give to some charitable cause, have they sponsored any events? Was there anything in the local media, national or trade about the company? Do you have any marketing or operational material from the company? Have you checked out any financial tracking services that followed the company? You mentioned investments coming in, do you know who invested or how? Did they own or lease the property and are there any records? Whats does their phone number listing show? The list can just keep going.
No company is invisible anymore. The info is out there; you just have to put your Dick Tracy hat on and start doing the research.
I was probably reading between the lines too much but it seems like this company didn't quite do things the right way...for some reason I doubt there was ever a 1099 or anything like that...they probably just sent money via paypal or bitcoin to employees every now and then as pay.
I would just leave it on your resume and if they verify, explain the situation and give them contacts of your co-workers and that should be enough.
I worked at a company that went under. I did have paycheck stubs and things like that but there was no way for them to talk to anyone in HR to verify that I worked there and that the company shut down (for all they knew, I could have been fired for stealing from the company or something heinous like that). I gave them contact info for my manager and he vouched for me and that was it.
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