Big disappointment

BitterAndTwisted

Everyone there doesn't know that you're "a failure". That's just all in your head. Something went awry somehow, and you'll probably feel better about it once you know what happened to your application.

You are a known quantity, you have performed that role adequately in the past, so your application should have been considered. Perhaps they've had to hire the Chairman's daughter instead. Who knows? You don't until you ask.

t0rt0ise

My first thought was why would they give you the job when they can keep calling on you to fill in as and when. Give you the job and they lose their temp.

Spendless

I would feel exactly the same way. I am also an office temp for the same company who use me for their holiday cover and other absences.

Since starting there last June I've never had a month that I haven't worked for them in, however inbetween my 1st period of temping and my 2nd they had someone else in. When she wasn't available to do the whole assignment I was contacted and that's when I discovered that though the company had meant me when they rang up, the agency had sent someone with the same surname as me, who was also registered with the agency! I don't have a really common surname either, not like Smith or Jones! I wouldn't have even believed this story to be true had I not been show the e-mails over it! So, I agree, ask, either next time you are in temping or ring HR.

Also, make sure they know you are interested in a permanent position should one come up, even if you don't happen to be working there at the time. My workplace say they will let me know if anything suitable should come up.

cannycat

Hi - please don't be so hard on yourself.

There could be any number of reasons why you weren't interviewed, none of them anything to do with you personally. There may have been someone internally. who needed to be redeployed, for instance. HR often make sure someone in that position takes preference for any internal vacancies (cynically, it's the cheapest option for the organisation in the short-term, whether or not the person is the most suited to the post. It's rife in the public sector right now.).

The original person in HR that you dealt with may have left or been off sick when the short-listing was done; HR may not have been entirely honest with the receptionist who was leaving (not that I'm implying that HR, as a profession, has the same spin-doctor tendencies as politicians and estate agents, sometimes it's that they aren't in a position to be as honest as they might like). It may be that your cv landed on the desk after they had already short-listed. It may be that they have a policy of only considering applications on their own application forms - in which case, if they had a lot of applicants, this would be an easy way to weed them out. Without knowing the details of the organisation, it's really difficult to tell.

There will be a reason for you personally why this happened that you just can't see yet. You might find that a better permanent job opportunity lands in your lap in the near future and this is actually the reason you didn't get the permanent post where you are. One valuable lesson is to always go direct to HR and/or the hiring manager (or actually, both, since the communication between the two groups may not be all that it should be) rather than take a third party's word for a situation. I think the receptionist who was leaving probably acted in good faith, but without you knowing what conversations she actually had with HR, you don't know if this was a genuine "yes, we'd be really interested in our temp" or just general small talk to pass the time before she left.

I temped for a long time in my 20s as there was no permanent work where I lived; now I look back, I can see all of the reasons why I didn't get the jobs I applied for. In the long run it worked out very well for me though it didn't feel like that at the time.

Good luck!

Saturnalia

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Sounds to me like the receptionist who offered to put you forward was actually trying to deter you from applying and being considered. You fell for it hook line and sinker

I don't think the company even knew you were interested to be honest.

I don't know about this as HR did know I was interested in permanent work there and I did send my application to them. Besides the receptionist wouldn't gain anything from messing about like that as she is leaving.

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Something went awry somehow, and you'll probably feel better about it once you know what happened to your application.

You are a known quantity, you have performed that role adequately in the past, so your application should have been considered. Perhaps they've had to hire the Chairman's daughter instead. Who knows? You don't until you ask.

t0rt0ise wrote: »

My first thought was why would they give you the job when they can keep calling on you to fill in as and when. Give you the job and they lose their temp.

Yes, those are both possibilities.


Had another interesting theory from one of my housemates. She said that I wasn't there when this conversation between the receptionist and the HR person took place so I don't know exactly what was said on either side - perhaps she was pressuring HR to call me and they said they would to shut her up, perhaps they were enthusiastic about wanting to see my application and she misinterpreted that as them definitely wanting me in, who knows what was actually said and meant when I didn't hear it?
(Just seen Cannycat has said exactly the same thing!)

I will call tomorrow and ask for feedback. Then if it is something I've done wrong I can try to fix it. And I can re-state that if anything comes up I'd like to apply. You never know, sometimes new hires don't work out.

cavework

Ask your agency if they were approached to fill this vacancy.
If they were , they should have put you forward for the role.
As you were working for the Agency any application you made for a full time job with the company you temp for has to go through your Agency.
Check the T&Cs you have signed
There is a temp to perm charge applied in these instances but it is up to the consultant you deal with at the agency to negotiate terms in this situation.
You are not a failure and I think you will find this is nothing to do with your ability to do this job..

Denene

I had something similar happen to me. I spent 11 months in one place as a temp, and when they came to fill the position permanently, my manager suggested I apply. I was so, so upset when I didn't get shortlisted for interview because I didn't have 12 months experience in the job. I was told that if I'd been less precise with the dates on the application I would have got an interview. :mad:I even ended up training my replacement before I left - talk about salt in the wound!

I can understand how you feel humiliated, but your co-workers won't be thinking like that. Mine were lovely and very sympathetic towards me - don't forget that they've known you for months (?), and they will be "on your side" as it were. Maybe you just missed out on a technicality?

Azmataz

Given your description, my immediate feeling is that the company probably didn't want to lose a reliable and competent temp worker. It's so handy to have such a candidate to call on, who knows the office's systems and can hit the ground running rather than requiring induction etc.
Cold comfort for you perhaps, but HR's choice of new worker may well not be a disparaging one personally for you, on the contrary, perhaps even the opposite! Don't give up and keep plugging away... It shows determination and commitment and will stand you in good stead for future openings. Remember to get straight on to HR when you hear of such a vacancy. Good luck!

Checkmate_2

Saturnalia wrote: »

I will. Obviously something on my CV put them off and it would help me to know what that is.

Sigh. This company gives me most of my temp work and I can't afford to not go back, but now everyone there knows I'm a failure and I'm going to have to sit there feeling utterly humiliated, on the next desk to the person who was chosen. Yay me.

You can apply for another job in another company in the meantime. Your current employer obviously doesn't value you and is taking you for granted.

Checkmate_2

Azmataz wrote: »

Given your description, my immediate feeling is that the company probably didn't want to lose a reliable and competent temp worker. It's so handy to have such a candidate to call on, who knows the office's systems and can hit the ground running rather than requiring induction etc.
Cold comfort for you perhaps, but HR's choice of new worker may well not be a disparaging one personally for you, on the contrary, perhaps even the opposite! Don't give up and keep plugging away... It shows determination and commitment and will stand you in good stead for future openings. Remember to get straight on to HR when you hear of such a vacancy. Good luck!

It also shows you're the type the employer can easily push around, milk you for all you're worth, and not reward you.