keeping contacts & references through the years

[torvald]

i am seeking employment and my resume is fine... professional

referrals are another matter, it's not that i worry about what the

folks will say, actually it would be a great help --- it's a matter of

finding them.

i have held a job for an average of 4-6 years in a computer/

marketing field. two companies i have worked for have been

absorbed by other companies or changed names, locations

and many employees. i survived 3 rounds of layoffs at one

company, remaining the last employee of a specific account.

i gave proper notice and followed the same on-site account

with another company later on.

i can list the supervisors and employees that i worked with at

the location of the smaller companies that existed at the time.

yet, when a perspective employer or agency calls the new

parent company years later, what then?

i am really simplifying the situation but am trying to make the

question pretty general. i actually googled the names of a few

of the references i would like to list... and they come up on the

top with their current home phone numbers. i find that creepy

and although i had a good rapport with them 6-10 years ago,

that would be very odd to call them now, at home.

should i call the current incarnations of these companies and

talk to a HR person in advance? do parent companies keep the

HR documents of the small companies they absorb?

any related advice or info would be helpful. thank you.

i do capitalize for work, i swear.

Edited September 1, 2006 by torvald