References no longer at my old companies and cannot be reached

[BigFish_LittleFish]

I understand your predicament. The same has happened to me with my managers from my last job, they have been laid off too, 2 years later! I kept in touch with a co-worker form that job, so I use her now, and I have just explained (to a potential employer) that there is no one left from the last company. I have also added a couple of managers from the job previous to that one, to try and beef it up. And in response to a lot of the feedback you've gotten **Employment Verification will be handled by HR to check your employment dates, title etc.. and the References you give are used either by HR or sometimes the potential manager to actually talk to people that know you, preferably people who can speak about your work ethics and performance, so professional references are always wanted over personal ones. Employment Verification and References are 2 different things-