I'm nearly 50 and my history of job hopping (and the longest job I had I was fired from, so they can't be used as a reference).

As I try to find a full-time job before my mother goes into assisted living by the end of summer, how do I explain to prospective employers that I don't have 3 professional job references?

I can use a former professor (last semester) as an academic reference. And, I have two temp agencies that can vouch for my work history with them which is clean with no reports of any problems.

But, that's all I have to offer; 2 temp agency references and 1 academic professor as a reference.

Any suggestions as to how to get around the job reference requirement? I see a lot of jobs I could apply for online but hesitate to b/c of accumulative job hopping (which I'm trying to reframe on my resume by using the functional format to showcase my skill sets, and not shine the spotlight on my job hopping).

I don't want to keep making the wrong choices, job-wise. That's what got me into this mess in the first place.