I just became a certified nurse aide today! :) I passed all my skills without making a single error and I am very happy. :) Prior to taking my exam I applied for several CNA jobs at LTC facilities around my area. Yesterday I recieved a phone call from a wonderful nursing home that I would LOVE to work at. They asked me to come in and apply in person. I did and it went very well. I dressed professionally and was polite and confident and had a big smile on my face.
Now comes the tricky part... my last job was at a hair salon. I worked there for about 1.5 years. I LOVED the job, except for my boss... I would work 12 hour shifts and I was allowed NO breaks. I would be yelled at if I was quickly inhaling my lunch in the backroom. I had to take the phone with me into the bathroom even! On 2 occasions, my ex-boss pulled me (HARD) by the arm and yanked me around. She treated me like I was her own personal Cinderella and she basically treated me like garbage. She talked down to me, and verbally, and physcially abused me. I came in one day to find that most all of my hours had been given to her best friends daughter who was also a receptionist at the salon. She claimed that she wanted to "help this girl out by giving her more hours." I have at least 1 year of seniority over this girl. She only works during the summer because she goes away to college. (In fact I had the MOST seniority as a receptionist at this salon since so many people quit and have been fired). I told my boss that it was not fair to give my hours to this girl. I ended up telling her that I wanted to give her my 2 weeks notice and she told me not to bother to come back... Well over the next few days after I quit my ex-boss sent my step-dad (former client of hers) rude nasty text messages about me and then a few days later she called him and left a voicemail telling him to come back to see her and that she has openings to cut his hair if he wants it done... SHE IS NUTS!
Well I have returned to the salon twice with a good friend of mine that gets her hair done there. I came to visit with the stylists and receptionists that I formally worked with, because I really truly loved working with those girls. I went in and tried to avoid my ex-boss but I could feel her glaring at me. She told me I had "some nerve" to come into her salon after calling it a hell hole on facebook... I DID NOT SAY THIS! I even looked back at my facebook to check and I wrote "Finally stood up for myself and quit my job. I deserve to be treated better." She said I commited slander against her salon (She mean libel haha) but I certainly did not. I never mentioned her salon. Only that I was excited to be treated better. She went on and on and I told her 'I am not here to do this, I just want to visit with the stylists'. So needless to say... she HATES me and I am scared that she will say untrue and unkind things about me if a future employer contacts her.
At the nursing home I applied at today they had me fill out 2 forms that look like they will be mailed to my previous employers asking them to rate me from poor to excellent on a few things (work ethic, punctuality, etc.) I am SO scared that she will ruin this job opportunity for me I worked very hard for her but she treated me badly all along and when I quit and took my mom, step-dad and aunt with me (all of them were her clients and they decided to go elsewhere after finding out what she did to me) she became angry.
WHAT SHOULD I DO? My mom said to call the nursing home I applied at and explain about my boss... I am not sure if I should do this. I am only 20 and I have had only 2 jobs (they were each long-term). I also worked at a doctors office for over 2 years. I also worked for the doctors office for a short time concurrently with my job at the salon. The people I worked for there were wonderful and I know they would say great things about me if this nursing home sends them a form to fill out about me. I have no experience with this sort of thing. But I thought that it was considered bad to bad mouth a previous employer. Does anyone have any advice for how to deal with a crazy ex-boss?? What would you do? Any experiences to share?
I would work 12 hour shifts and I was allowed NO breaks. I would be yelled at if I was quickly inhaling my lunch in the backroom. I had to take the phone with me into the bathroom even! On 2 occasions, my ex-boss pulled me (HARD) by the arm and yanked me around. She treated me like I was her own personal Cinderella and she basically treated me like garbage. She talked down to me, and verbally, and physcially abused me. I came in one day to find that most all of my hours had been given to her best friends daughter who was also a receptionist at the salon. She claimed that she wanted to "help this girl out by giving her more hours." I have at least 1 year of seniority over this girl. She only works during the summer because she goes away to college. (In fact I had the MOST seniority as a receptionist at this salon since so many people quit and have been fired). 
I told my boss that it was not fair to give my hours to this girl. I ended up telling her that I wanted to give her my 2 weeks notice and she told me not to bother to come back... Well over the next few days after I quit my ex-boss sent my step-dad (former client of hers) rude nasty text messages about me and then a few days later she called him and left a voicemail telling him to come back to see her and that she has openings to cut his hair if he wants it done... SHE IS NUTS! 
I worked very hard for her but she treated me badly all along and when I quit and took my mom, step-dad and aunt with me (all of them were her clients and they decided to go elsewhere after finding out what she did to me) she became angry.