fruitsmells's journey

I have an interview scheduled this week with the hiring manager for a position I'm really excited about. However, the recruiter has asked me to provide 5 references, and I'm feeling a bit stuck because I only have one solid reference. I've been at my current job for the last 7 years, and my only reference is my former boss who retired a couple of years ago. Since I'm still employed, I don't want my current coworkers or anyone at my company to know that I'm looking for new opportunities. If I weren't in this position, I would definitely include some of my coworkers and contractors I've worked with over the years. I'm considering whether I should be upfront with the recruiter about only having one reference right now or if I should suggest that I can provide more references once an offer is made. It feels like 5 references is quite a lot, and I'm worried that this might be a red flag for the company. I've seen others mention similar situations where they were asked for multiple references, and it can be really frustrating. I just want to make sure I handle this correctly and don't jeopardize my chances for the job.

I’m currently the Marketing Manager at a small business, and I’ve been in this role for about two years. However, things took a turn about eight months ago when we got a new CEO who is also my direct supervisor. Right from the start, he insisted on taking over our social media accounts, despite my advice that he didn’t need to handle it himself. He claimed to have experience with it from his previous job, but since then, the content has gone completely off-brand. A lot of what he posts is cringe-worthy and seems to be generated by AI. I’m still doing my part and posting my own content, but it feels like I’m fighting a losing battle since he goes rogue with his posts. I’ve tried to communicate our brand standards to him, but he doesn’t seem to care. Because of this situation, I’ve been actively interviewing for new positions, as I can’t see myself staying in this environment much longer. My main concern is how this will affect my job search. When hiring managers look at my resume and see my title and responsibilities, they might check our company’s social media and see his posts, which could reflect poorly on me. It’s really embarrassing, especially with the job market being so tough right now. I’m considering how to address this on my resume—should I remove ‘social media’ as a responsibility? How can I communicate that the social media content doesn’t accurately represent my work?