DWP Job Offer...but I didnit attend the interview?!

willsonline

Can you let us know how it pans out? Laughed Out Loud when i saw this thread lol.

ceridwen

Could well be that they made a mistake.

I think I would start a phonecall to them on a positive/cheerful note - along the lines of "Thank you for your letter giving me the job and I'm looking forward to having it confirmed when my start date is. Is there anything else I need to think about at this stage? Thanks again ...................(long gap). By the way - I WAS a bit surprised to get this letter, as I was unable to get to the interview because of....(.....) - but thank you so much anyway".

Pause to wait to see if the person at the other end of the phone has actually "heard" what you were saying (ie that you didnt attend interview) (I've long since lost count of how often people dont "hear" what one is saying - it just goes straight through unregistered!). If you're sure they did "hear" you - then proceed as per plan and turn up for work when arranged.

At some point between your phonecall and you turning up for work someone might be running round in a panic about it...but the chances are that no-one will want to admit to having made a mistake - so you've told the truth AND you've got the job.:D

On another tack - it MAY just be the case that they havent had enough people applying for their vacancies (in this day and age? ...well you never know) - so they've decided to take on the best of the "non-showers" as well. That IS another possible explanation.

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Whatever else you do though - you do need to make it very plain that you accept the job - turning down job offers isnt allowed if one is to continue "signing on".

Justicia

ceridwen wrote: »

At some point between your phonecall and you turning up for work someone might be running round in a panic about it...but the chances are that no-one will want to admit to having made a mistake - so you've told the truth AND you've got the job.:D

Maybe... Bearing in mind that the other person on the phone then potentially has to tell the person that they actually sent a formal acceptance letter to, that they didn't get the job. Will they got the nerve to do so?

ceridwen wrote: »

Whatever else you do though - you do need to make it very plain that you accept the job - turning down job offers isnt allowed if one is to continue "signing on".

rcool80 doesn't have that dilemma...

rcool80 wrote: »

Luckily I don't claim any benefits so that is not an issue.

aliasojo

Lol...can't you just act as if you've gone to soooooo many interviews that month that you'd got slightly confused and you assumed you'd actually attended since they had offered you the job.

chriswatts

I wouldn't bother with a phone call, instead I'd write a formal letter accepting the post but stating that you are interested in taking up the post but surprised as you never attended an interview. Phone calls are not really formal acceptances, after you call they could just put a letter in the post saying it was a mistake.

Although they have formally offered you the post, I would imaging that a telephone call unless recorded would be not put them in such a predicament as a formal letter of acceptance.

rcool80

Thanks for all your replies! Lots of good comments there. I still don't know what to do though. However, I think the fact the letter begins with "Thank you for attending the interview. I am pleased to tell you that you have been successful" suggest an administrative error, as if they had offered me a job on the basis of the application/CV they would not have thanked me for attending the interview.

Im concered that some poor person with the same surname as mine did a very good interview, got the job and they sent me the letter by mistake. I don't want to take anyone elses job!

I'm going to speak to my Mum tonight...I don't make any decision without speaking to her first, and then make my final decision. Although, if I phone the DWP, it propbably won't be untill Monday now. However, I will keep you updated on this somewhat bizarre situation!

Mar.cresham

Would it not be better just to ring them today and get it over with? That way you know once and for all without it hanging over you all weekend.

onlyforboards_2

Yes just ring them and tell them you very much would like to accept the job but you assume there must be an error as you did not attend an interview as you were on holiday, however you are able to attend one now.
If you deal with it quickly you help them which is good for you if future jobs come up, or if they have already dismissed all the other applicants!

mohthom

I had some pretty poor experiences with the applications procedure at the DWP recently - enough that I spoke with my MP (for the first time - he was great) at length about it.

I DID do the 'reading and writing' test (apologies, 'Literacy and Numeracy') - and aced them - apparently my GCSEs in English and Maths don't cut it, along with my 'A' Levels in English and Maths, my degree or my postgraduate degree.
When I asked for feedback on the application (in order to improve further applications) I was sent a piece of paper with a percentage written on it. Nothing else, just a percentage. No explanation of what the percentage represents, how it is arrived at, who looked at it and what level of seniority they held, nothing. Three cheers for tax paying these peoples' wages!

Let me guess. . . .

At the top of the letter, it states that it's from Shared Services Employee Services Resourcing, postcode NE98 1BA.
There are multiple typos in the address (!), 4th line esp.
The initials of the first signatory is PW.

On a serious note, from the way in which the OP has responded he HAS to be of a higher quality than some of the people I spoke with in the department. Couldn't you say that you had about a thousand applications and interviews going on at the same time and that you didn't remember one interview from another? Also, if they made such a basic error with your application, would you REALLY want to work for them (given that this is likely to be indicative of the quality of staff and operations within the organisation)?

rcool80

Thanks for all your replies. I phoned them...I said that I wanted to discuss a job offer letter I had received. Got told no one was avaliable to discuss it and someone would ring me back. So I guess I'll just wait by the phone now.

mohthom - Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with the DWP - I can confirm that my letter was very similar to the example you gave! I'm starting the think the whole thing is a shambles and I probably wouldn't want to work for them anyway!

I shall wait for this phone call back and keep you all updated!