Am I being played?

[Deleted User] · 25 August 2017 at 6:36PM

Bit of advice if I could please?

I went for a job interview on Tuesday 25th a July. During the interview, they advised there were two roles, the job I applied for along with a new job. Given the new job was very similar to the advertised job (same job different departments), they were only conducting one set of interviews.

Two days later I received a call to say that I was successful (with the new job) and that my details would be passed to recruitment/HR for next steps, a few days later my potential new line manager added me on LinkedIn.

A week passed and I heard nothing and given I had no direct phone or email contact, I emailed the HR dept, and received no reply. A few days later I messaged my potential new line manager via LinkedIn and he confirmed that he had asked HR to provide me with a formal offer.

Fast forward to 10 days ago and still no contact so I sent another message via LinkedIn and a day later I received a direct call from the head of recruitment apologising for the delay however they had not received the appropriate sign off to create this job and that if I had not heard anything by the end of the week (today) to re contact them. I have done so and have effectively been given another holding message.

So in short am I being messed around? Would you be worried?

I have stupidly stopped applying for roles however I am thinking I should be forgetting this job and chalking it down to experience.

Fortunately, I didn’t hand in my notice with my currently employer however I have a feeling that the new employer may have already started asking my current employer for a reference so there is a small chance they will find out.

ThemeOne · 25 August 2017 at 7:02PM

I would start applying for jobs again if you're anxious to make a move, as who knows what's going on with this lot, you could end up waiting a long time for nothing at this rate.

robatwork · 25 August 2017 at 7:55PM

This does sound more disorganised than sinister.

But they may be SO disorganised that there is no actual job, or no funds to pay a salary for it.

So continue looking, and 60/40 it will come through for you.

TELLIT01 · 25 August 2017 at 8:56PM

It does look very much like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. I do agree though that you should continue to look for other jobs until and unless you get a firm job offer in writing.

andygb · 25 August 2017 at 10:16PM

To the OP. Keep on looking around as others have wisely advised, because this company either sound "dodgy" or very disorganised.
I once went for an inteview at one firm, was offered the job, and was then instructed to turn up at another firm, because the person who interviewed me, had illegally split the original firm in half.
That didn't end well - for either the firm or me.

Caroline_a · 26 August 2017 at 12:56PM

Another one who would advise keep looking. I applied for a job a few years ago and was told it was mine bar the paperwork. Foolishly I stopped looking and sent gentle 'any news?' type messages for a month or two. Finally (I think it was nearly 3 months) they came back and said that the funding for the job had been pulled. Great. Luckily I got something very quickly but it was a lesson learnt.

The job I am currently in I applied for back in February. I had both first and second interviews, all looked good and I was told I would hear the following week (when I happened to be away, which they knew). On returning from my holiday still no news so I sent a gentle reminder to the internal recruiter. 2 days later I got the job offer! However I had applied for a whole load of other jobs during the waiting period - I wasn't going to get caught out twice!

Hedgehog99 · 26 August 2017 at 1:03PM

Nothing wrong with continuing to apply for other jobs you would want. Even if offered them, you could still decline if this first job lets you know in time and you'd prefer the job.

1886 · 26 August 2017 at 3:07PM

I left a job 3.5 years ago which reminds me of your post

I had an interview, got a phone call a few days later to say I had got the job and that the offer etc would be in the post. I had to ring twice to chase up the letter. It eventually arrived

Once in the job I hated it, it was absolute chaos. Way before my probationary period was up I had started looking for a new job. The warning signs were there early on, I should'nt have had to chase them up

I left after eight months

patman99 · 26 August 2017 at 5:54PM

Sounds like my place of work. Only been there 6 months and am already looking to leave.

StuckDesking · 29 August 2017 at 3:30PM

A similar things happened to me a few years back - well established care company, project admin job, went to THREE interviews, offered job (I was recovering form a serious illness at the time so was still using a walking stick and dragging myself to three interviews each a week apart had been an expensive nightmare!) YAY new job... I hear NOTHING, so after a week I call - things are 'in process' and someone will 'get back to me ASAP'. Another week, call, leave message. Then I emailed the main company email - no response. Found the email of the woman who interviewed me - no response. Called one last time (after four weeks of waiting and trying to find anything out - I'm so glad I didn't sign off my damn benefits!) and was again told someone would call me back - I told the lady on the phone that, while I knew it wasn't her fault, I was concerned with the way the company was not providing me with information and I'd appreciate someone from HR calling me to tell me what had happened. NOTHING! Even my email of complaint was ignored. It was BIZARRE. I eventually spoke to someone else who had worked their briefly, she said they didn't know their @rse from their elbow and wasn't surprised by my story at all. The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing there apparently.

SO, you’re not alone. It's small comfort I know when you're racking your brains as to what could have happened. I'd see it as a lucky escape - if they've screwed this part up so badly imagine what actually working for them would be like!!! Look for something else and let this one go. It sounds like it's for the best

ThemeOne · 29 August 2017 at 5:12PM

Some employers, in fact in my experience many employers, are so disorganised about the hiring process. They take their own sweet time so by the time they are eventually able to make a firm offer, their preferred candidates have all got other jobs, so they either have to settle for people they didn't really want, or start the whole sorry process again.

Am I being played?

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