I've been unemployed for a year and six months and I'm getting interviews at the moment for teaching jobs abroad. The problem is I don't really have any references apart from a report by my tutors on a teaching course and one of the interviewers wants to contact my previous employers and this is hard because I asked one of them for references a few months ago and they didn't reply back. I've told the employer that I haven't been in contact with them for a long time and it might be difficult to get references from them. I'm on edge at this stage. I try so hard to make a good impression at interviews. I do my best to answer the questions well. I have qualifications and I have no criminal record and sometimes when something is imperfect during the interview, that can spoil my chances of securing the job. I hate asking people for references, because I've always been paranoid of what people of think of me. I'm always afraid they'll say no. I've always been very humble and introverted. I'm so anxious for the future. Sometimes I just feel there's no hope.