Built up and knocked down at interview..:(

starsinmycrown

Hi, I suppose I'm on here for a bit of a moan and to ask a question because I feel so down right now. A month ago i applied for a job at a company and had to go through a 3 stage interview. I was turned down for the job, but told they really liked me and were impressed and there was another post they wanted to consider me for. They rang back four weeks later saying they had something suitable for me, but as i'd been through a gruelling interview process, they weren't going to put me through another, and invited me instead for an "informal chat" to discuss the post. The woman in HR really made it sound to me as though it was in the bag, and i was really pleased as the salary was good, and OH has been made redundant, so i really needed the money too!

I felt really excited and really wanted to do the job. I had an idea of the kind of thing it was, and HR said they'd rush out to me a job desc. It came on the morning of the interview, i didn't have uch time or know much about this post as a result, but was told my interviewers would understand this.

I went off into town for my informal chat, which was apparently "just so my employers could get a feel for me, see if it all went okay, see how we gel"
When i got there, i signed in- and there were another two cadidates who had come earlier. I was led downstairs in front of a panel of 3.. for.. what was clearly a formal interview. It took me aback a bit- and they had my app for and answers from the previous job, and proceeded to ask me similar questions. I didn't know whether to give new answers or replicate my old ones and it caught me off guard. I was told they'd let me know as they had others to interview.

Today they left a message (getting my name wrong!) flatly saying "sorry you weren't suiccessful. if you want feedback or anything let us know. bye."

I'm so disappointed and upset. i really wanted the job and kept saying to myself "hey, don't worry, this time next month you'll probably be in work.." Like a fool, i kept telling my friends "i'll have to see how i'm fixed- i'll probably be at work next week!" My OH and Mum said to not bother with the feedback, because it was clearly a farce, and to just move on, without their criticisms. but i am upset. although i'm curious to know the reasons why, i feel as though it was probably because i came totally unprepared for what was to befall me, and i feel so low about this at the mo, that i don't feel like the criticism. Has anybody ever had feedback when a job offer has gone so sour like this? How did it make them feel, better or worse. They seemed to really like me on my last interview so God knows what i did wrong!

SomeBozo

Ring up and get the feedback. For nothing else but preparation for another interview.

At the end of the phone call say "Do you want some feedback?" and mention how you thought the interview was going to be an informal chat as you were told. In the end it was more like a formal interview and as a result you didn't do as good as you thought you could.

Bozo

non_believer_2

This sounds really similar to a situation I was in a couple of years ago. I was interviewed for a job and whilst I wasn't given the job I was told that they had been really impressed by me and it had been between me and the successful candidate with nothing to choose between us (although, obviously there must have been something as they chose the other person!). Anyway, I was also told there was another position coming up a couple of months later, they practically begged me to apply for it, the woman from the interview panel even said I could contact her to have an in-depth discussion and to coach me about this second job which, I'm pretty sure, was an opportunity that other candidates would not have been offered. Anyway, a few weeks later I saw the job advertised so I duly applied and was invited to an interview. Not wanting to assume the job was in the bag I did all the usual preparation but felt confident knowing they were already impressed by me.

Then it all started to go wrong. One hour before the interview I received a call from them telling me that, suddenly, an additional job vacancy had arisen and they asked if they could interview me for it at the same time. It was a similar type of role but focusing on finance, which I have absolutely no experience of, let alone having no opportunity to prepare. However, I didn't want to appear inflexible/difficult and I also didn't want to reduce my chances of getting a job as although this extra job was not my ideal job, I was very keen to work for this organisation. I was assured that if I couldn't answer a question well on the finance job, it wouldn't affect my chances of getting the original job and like you I was also assured that the fact this had been dropped on me at the last minute would be taken into account by the panel.

When I got to the interview they were late in seeing me and when I did get called to the interview room, just before I was led in, another employee jumped in ahead of me, stood in the doorway and started talking the the panel members. Instead of asking him to come back later they struck up a conversation with him leaving me standing in the doorway feeling like an idiot. This sounds trivial but when you are about to walk into an interview room, it's generally the most tense part of the whole process. It lasted about 3 minutes but it felt like forever and I admit it threw me a bit. Then, in the interview, I was grilled as to why I was prepared to leave a permanent job for a temporary position (it was a maternity cover position). Whilst I highlighted that it was because I was so keen to work for this organisation, one panel member demanded to know if I would be looking for new jobs towards the end of the contract and would "leave them in the lurch". I just felt like pointing out to her that any sensible person facing the end of a contract would begin to look for a new position, but I managed to answer her questions. I was then bombarded with financial questions and looked at like some kind of moron when I couldn't answer them all (depite them being well aware of my lack of experience in this area). There were very few questions that seemed to be related to the actual job I had applied for.

As you have probably gathered, I wasn't offered either of the jobs. I was told in my feedback that I had not interviewed as well as the first time. I asked (politely) if they felt that that could have been in any way related to the way the process was dealt with and how I was treated prior to the interview, but their answer was basically "no". Anyway, I can't really give you any advice but I wanted to tell you about my experience to let you know that this kind of thing does happen to other people too so try not to take it too personally. It's clear that they handled the whole process very badly and therefore, you were not given the opportunity to perform at your best. The way I looked at my situation was, if that's how they treat people in an interview process, imagine how they might treat people who actually work for them....maybe you're better off not working in an environment where treating people in that manner is considered to be acceptable. It certainly doesn't measure up to my definition of professionalism.

starsinmycrown

Thanks for that post, non_believer. I enjoyed reading that and it made me feel a bit better to know somebody else has been in the same boat. You really do feel a fool when you're unprepared and then told it doesn't matter and built up, and then let down. It made me feel worse because they were obviously interested in me for one post, but then it left me feeling as though i did something wrong in the second! Thanks for your story. x

bookduck

I'm with non_believer, don't take it personal and always go for feedback.

For me I always fail with the first two companies I interview with, then get used to the setup and ambiance. On your third company you will have found that company 1 &2 covered most of the questions, so you know (thought through,or have discussed with friends) what you need to say. I've only had 2 jobs in the last 21 years and to be honest I did not want either of them, so was really relaxed at the interview.

brightonman123

rather unfair, getting 2nd job spec day of the interogation!.. i would have soaid then that you were informed only to be informal talk only, and ask to have at another time, so you can properly prepare? (and decide if job was even suitable for YOU, might have saved time and effort on all sides.)

cazziebo

I think that's pretty appalling and unprofessional. :mad:

I would go with Some Bozo's suggestion. Request the feedback, tell them how disappointed you were to be led to expect "an informal chat" and were then submitted to a very formal interview, for which you had been badly prepared - BY THEM. Stay calm and rational.

Although to be honest - I'd find the calm and rational bit very hard. I am actually outraged by this - I'd be tempted to call up the head of the HR department (or write a letter to them) and give them the story. I would finish by saying that I was really excited at the prospect of working for what you believed to be a good company, but now feel very let down by the whole experience. If I was to get a letter like that from a candidate I'd be investigating this thoroughly. (The green ink rants I just ignore!)

Candidates are like customers - they can enhance or kill your reputation. Shoddy HR practice is frustrating, and ill serves a profession with an already poor reputation. (and I'm a CIPD member )

I'm sorry you've been badly treated. Remember you impressed them first time round, they let you down second time. You have a lot to offer and you'll find an employer more deserving of your skills and qualities. You will.

Good luck
x

janey_uk

I would write to the head of HR and complain, and state that you felt you were put at a disadvantage and would like to know why they mislead you. At the very least it might make them sharpen their poor practice.

I went for an interview with a local authority in the S/East a couple of years back and when I arrived they sprung on me that I needed to do a written assessment and presentation, neither of which they had mentioned before. They gave the job to someone internal (I was external) so when they called with feedback I told them politely that I thought it was unfair and unprofessional to do this. The woman got nasty immediately and started slagging me off and I thanked my lucky stars I didn't get the job!

janey_uk

On the flip side - I had a really bad interview with an agency once for a job they said I'd never get. They asked all kinds of inappropriate questions about my personal circumstances and made very unprofessional comments about their political beliefs and didn't put me forward.

I applied directly to the company and got the job. The first thing I did was strike the agency from their books! THAT was a satisfying phone call!

liuhut

I once went for a job and had a rejection letter, I was gutted and my OH persuaded me to call to get feedback. When I rang the girl asked if they could call me back, when she did she apologised and said that my form had been dropped on the wrong pile and actually I'd got the top mark!!! Was going to say that I'm glad I rang but I worked there for 5 years and it was a bloomin' awful company, should have realised from the start hey!!

Def. ring them for feedback and give them some too xxx

MrsChips

A Similiar thing happened to me...

During my final year at Uni I did a 6 week work placement in a marketing department - when I finnished the placement they said that they had been impressed with my work and should a vacany ever arise they would contact me.

During the Summer I carried on with my seasonal job as an administarion assistant and about half way through the season the work placement people called me to let me know about a Job... Great I thought... However on investigation the job on offer was only temporary and it wasnt in the Marketing Department as I had hoped - so I turned it down.

A few days later the Assistant Director called me again and said "Between me and you if you take the Temporoary Job we can Guarentee that another position will become available within the next few months and if you apply we can Guarentee that you will get it"

So me being Naive, I left my Temporary Seasonal Job (which I loved) to go and work in the Reservations department until (or so I thought) the other position came available in the Marketing Department.

A few months down the line the (NEW) Job became known ... It wasnt even the job I wanted (Not in Marketing - but Office Manager!!) but by this time it was too late and I was just happy to take a Permanent Position as I had just signed a contract on a new Flat.

Like the OP I thought it was in the bag ... Remember I had been guarenteed this position by the Assistant Director of the company... so I hardly prepared, breezed through the interview and waited for the Congratulations to flood in!

I must admit I was a bit concerned when they started interviewing lots of other candidates but I assumed it was all part of equal opportunites and all that.

A couple of days later I was called into the Directors Office thinking she was going to congratulate me on my NEW Job!! I was surprised to see that she looked a bit sad and then she told me that I had been unsuccessful :eek:

The reason was because I couldnt speak fluent Welsh which was a requirement of the Job - but they knew I wasnt a Fluent Speaker from back when I did Work Experience (!?) I asked her why I had been mislead into thinking that the job was mine, to the extent of a Guarentee, and she was visibly shocked... She hadnt known anything about it ... She was actually just as gutted as me.

I walked out on the spot... but a few days later I was begged to return. The guy that made the promises was never to be seen again (Sacked??) I worked there for a painful few weeks until I found another Job. I still think about it to this day and hate them for wasting my time and making me look an idiot.

I feel for you OP - It sucks that people can get away with over-promising and misleading you. I would definatley ask for Feedback and as another post suggested report it to the HR Department and copy the Director/Manager in on the letter/email.

In a seperate instance my B/F recently complained after going to an Interview and being told that he would have to wait 3 hours to be seen because another candidate had arrived late and they were running behind. He had to be somewhere that afternoon so he couldnt wait the 3 hours, so after travelling 60+ miles to the interview he had to turn round and come home - He complained (to HR & the Director etc) and asked them to refund his travelling expenses and he's just got a cheque for £70!! Complaints do work .. Try it.

Good Luck with further Interviews