From whom do I get references when my original advisor leaves academia? This is similar to a previously asked question, but deals specifically with addressing the problem on the CV. My adviser had a bit of a personal meltdown and left the department while I was finishing analysis of field data/writing up. His students were assigned the following year to a non-tenured professor.  This new professor was of little help to me my last year of writing up, sat on my dissertation with no comments for over 6 months and only produced comments after I went to the departmental chair. He did not think much of the type work I was doing and went so far as to say so during my defense. I will add here that I have a number of publications (>5) including single authored ones-which for my field is significant- as well as an excellent track record of funding and in presenting my research. I have a strong CV but have had no success thus far in securing a job. I once saw one of the letters he had written for me (it needed to be included in a single PDF so he had to send it to me) and it was terrible. It talked mostly about him and how he really did not know me well and with a few generic sounding "he will no doubt exceed" sentences that just sounded fake. Months later a colleague suggested that I find a different reference than my adviser (but was not clear as to why). 

So, my question is this: since committees will no doubt look at my list of referees and wonder at my lack of an adviser-I have taken to including a short "note" in the "reference contact information" section explaining that 1) my original adviser left academia at the end of my time as a student and 2) that my new adviser was up for tenure the year I defended and very busy and was in a different field than mine, so instead "below are three people who are in a better position to judge me on my research, teaching, writing skills".

Is this providing too much information or is this instead ensuring that rather than questioning and then rejecting my application the committees will stop and think "oh okay, I can see why the applicant did not include their adviser"?
Your current advisor's letters are killing you.  Do not ask him for any more letters.  Do not list him as a reference in your CV.  Don't walk; run.


  I will add here that I have a number of publications (>5) including single authored ones-which for my field is significant- as well as an excellent track record of funding and in presenting my research. 


In that case, you really should have no trouble finding enough other good references to overcome any concerns raised by not having a letter from either of your advisors.  Everyone reads advisor letters with a grain of salt anyway; strong letters from well-known senior researchers outside your home department have much bigger impact.

Of course, if anyone asks why your current advisor isn't writing you letters, you should answer honestly, but I think adding an explanatory note in advance is unnecessarily defensive.