DWP Huge Admin Mistake!!

Vancat

Hi
I’ve recently applied for an EO role at the local JC.
I’ve been waiting for a vacancy to be advertised for months, and was tipped off by a phone call at home from my helpful PA at the job centre, the day before it even went live on the DWP website, to make sure I got in quick!
(Just to add, I only claimed contributions based JSA for 26 weeks, and since then, I get nothing, except my NI credits being paid.)
The EO vacancy was only 12 months fixed term, but would have been fine, seeing as I’ve been unemployed over 12 months, and jobs in my field are still few and far between.
I completed the application and competency form, sent it off, and waited….
At the beginning of this week, I had a call from a nice guy at Manpower, Newcastle, congratulating me on passing the DWP sift, and inviting me to the lit and numeracy tests at a local hotel on Monday 7th. The results would be given that day, and interviews would follow on 11th. Yippee, I thought!! A new job for a New Year!:T
All geared up, I’ve spent the last few days researching the competencies for EO role, re-reading every DWP post on MSE (and other) forums, and even booked myself in for a hair appointment today!;)

And at 4pm today….I had a call from Manpower, Newcastle… The girl sounded really upset, and said there had been a dreadful mistake…
Apparently the DWP had sent Manpower a list of 70, yes 70, "successful" people, who, like me, had all been contacted by Manpower, and given test times.

But today DWP told Manpower that they’d sent them the WRONG LIST!! The DWP sent the unsuccessful list to Manpower and told them they were successful.
And all the 70 people were unsuccessful in the DWP sift, and should have been sent unsuccessful letters!!!:mad:

This girl said Manpower were now having to contact all 70 people today, and explaining the problem. She said she was as disgusted as the people she was having to contact, and had never come across such a major c0ck-up by DWP in all her time there!:eek:

Personally, I find it ironic that they have decided on sift that I don’t match their odd “competency” selection, but someone at DWP is in a secure job, being totally INCOMPETENT in dealing with this exercise.

I’ve asked for a written explanation and confirmation of this error, if only to take into the job centre for my next signing on day, to prove I didn’t make it up!! (Well, you couldn’t make this up, could you?!!)

Should I should complain to someone about this, just to prevent this happening to other people again? No idea who to write to though, although my local MP may be a good start?

In the meantime, back to the job search!:rolleyes:
VC

dmg24

Whilst it is disappointing, I do think you are getting things out of perspective. Yes, a mistake has been made, but the person who made it is only human. I would stop thinking about complaining and use your energies more constructively by asking for feedback.

Vancat

I assure you I'm not getting anything out of perspective.
And I didn't ask for advice concerning my job searching abilities or reasons why I failed the "sift" thank you!
I will not be asking for feedback, as if you've read my post, you would see that the only thing I did was complete the DWP competency multiple choice questionnaire. There would be no feedback available, as the sift is subjective to whatever role they had in mind at the local JC.
As it happens, I really don't mind about the job, or being unemployed. I'm nearly 58, so it matters less to me.
But there are a lot of people who would have had their hopes up and must now be feeling gutted.
I take it you work for DWP?:rolleyes:

starrystarry

I don't think you're getting things out of perspective either. This is not just a mistake, this is a piece of carelessness or incompetence that has resulted in 70 people having their hopes raised and then dashed.

With the job market as it is at the moment, a fair proportion of those 70 people will have been out of work for ages and many of them may be getting desparate.

To get your hopes raised and dashed like that would be devastating to some people.

Nicklt

Hi, i'm very sorry to hear about what happend... and for you and the other 69 it must be terrible. As an AO (who has just applied for an EO role) within the JCP i can see why people call the DWP incompetent, there have been majorly stupid errors within the department which have effected people, but people need to remember that the DWP and JC is majorly stretched at the moment and that is when mistakes happen. This should never of happend and im not defending the person who did this for one minute, it annoys me because i try really hard to help people etc and then we all get tarnished with the "useless/imcomptent" brush when someone makes a mistake.

Zazen999

You could send your CV in to DWP appliying for the role of the person who c0cked it up - in a comedy fashion.

Anihilator

It's hardly a huge mistake

Its unfortunate but anyone who claims never to have made a mistake at work is either lying or just unemployable and never had a job to make a mistak

No one is any worse off and OP just needs to accept they werent good enough and move on.

starrystarry

Anihilator wrote: »

It's hardly a huge mistake

Its unfortunate but anyone who claims never to have made a mistake at work is either lying or just unemployable and never had a job to make a mistak

No one is any worse off and OP just needs to accept they werent good enough and move on.

You're not in a position to state that "no on is any worse off". 70 people have been given a glimmer of hope then had it snatched away. How do you know that this hasn't affected any of them? Just because they're not financially or materially worse off, doesn't mean they're not affected.

I don't think you're helping Vancat much, or the other 69 people, by saying they weren't good enough. The sift was based solely on a multiple choice competency questionnaire, so the DWP would have known nothing about skills, experience etc.

Vancat

Lol starrystarry, just ignore Anihilator, like most people do...he/she takes great delight in trolling the boards, but never has anything constructive to add!

As for the dig that I wasn't good enough, I've ignored that too, (in view of the fact that I've been employed in management positions for 20 + years & both agencies and JC+ feel I'm OVER qualified for everything I apply for!!)

I'm going to go to the local rag about it, as obviously the people affected will all come from this area, and at least they will all know they're not the only ones!
I did have a thought though....judging by the various problems that Manpower had earlier this year in this massive recruitment exercise, it could be possible that it was Manpower who c0cked this up, and they're trying to save face by saying it was DWP? In which case, DWP recruitment would certainly want to know, eh?
VC

Willsnarf1983

Vancat wrote: »

Lol starrystarry, just ignore Anihilator, like most people do...he/she takes great delight in trolling the boards, but never has anything constructive to add!

As for the dig that I wasn't good enough, I've ignored that too, (in view of the fact that I've been employed in management positions for 20 + years & both agencies and JC+ feel I'm OVER qualified for everything I apply for!!)

I'm going to go to the local rag about it, as obviously the people affected will all come from this area, and at least they will all know they're not the only ones!
I did have a thought though....judging by the various problems that Manpower had earlier this year in this massive recruitment exercise, it could be possible that it was Manpower who c0cked this up, and they're trying to save face by saying it was DWP? In which case, DWP recruitment would certainly want to know, eh?
VC

there is an ignore button you can press to ignore users you don't like.

As for this matter I just think you are blowing it out of all proportions, yes its not nice and no I wouldn't want it to happen to me but its a mistake and one they will most likely learn from.

I feel worse for the lady that had to phone the 70 people up!

Will

dmg24

Willsnarf1983 wrote: »

there is an ignore button you can press to ignore users you don't like.

As for this matter I just think you are blowing it out of all proportions, yes its not nice and no I wouldn't want it to happen to me but its a mistake and one they will most likely learn from.

I feel worse for the lady that had to phone the 70 people up!

Will

Yep, me too, especially if everyone reacted in the same way as the OP.

The other option for the DWP would have been to let these people take the test and then tell them they were unsuccessful. This would have been a waste of time (and money) for the applicants and those who run the test centre.

OP, a mistake was made, and an apology has been given. What would you like the DWP to do - give you a job that they do not believe you are capable of?