unfair job interview!!

roz84

Hi, any advice greatly appreciated here!

I work as a teaching assistant but my student just got permanently excluded. I applied for one of the new jobs which had been advertised, quite a while before doing so my boss put under the impression that as long as I did a good application and interview then the job would be in the bag, so to speak.

I've worked there for 2 and a half years, never any problems, I'm good at my job and have never had any bad reports in 360 reviews etc.

Anyway, so the interview came, I wasn't expected to do the practical activities (or even given the opportunity) and in the panel bit they asked me completely different questions to the other candidates. It was light hearted in tone which I felt went along with what my boss had said to me before.

Anyway they haven't given me the job! I'm absolutely gutted and feel it is very unfair, she said I didn't interview well, but they didn't give me the same questions so how could their points have been worked out? Does this seem unfair to anyone else, plus the fact they haven't taken my previous good performance into account? Can I do anything about it?

FBaby

How do you know the questions were different? Where the other candidates internal or were they all external?

roz84

I know they were different because they told me; the other candidates were external

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Yes - the questions should have been the same in an ideal world
No - they shouldn't take the past into account if they are using the same grading system to decide who gets the job.

What's the relevance of the student getting permanently excluded? Were they your only student?

mandragora_2

Are you in a union? If so, you'll get the most pertinent advice there.

SuzyZ

roz84 wrote: »

Hi, any advice greatly appreciated here!

I work as a teaching assistant but my student just got permanently excluded. I applied for one of the new jobs which had been advertised, quite a while before doing so my boss put under the impression that as long as I did a good application and interview then the job would be in the bag, so to speak.

I've worked there for 2 and a half years, never any problems, I'm good at my job and have never had any bad reports in 360 reviews etc.

Anyway, so the interview came, I wasn't expected to do the practical activities (or even given the opportunity) and in the panel bit they asked me completely different questions to the other candidates. It was light hearted in tone which I felt went along with what my boss had said to me before.

Anyway they haven't given me the job! I'm absolutely gutted and feel it is very unfair, she said I didn't interview well, but they didn't give me the same questions so how could their points have been worked out? Does this seem unfair to anyone else, plus the fact they haven't taken my previous good performance into account? Can I do anything about it?

I have to say the one time I was in a job and in this situation (ie virtually promised a job) (covering maternity contract that was eventually for a year), I was given the impression that another job I'd applied for in the same company (different job but something I'd done before, lots of experience) I was told exactly the same as you, 'job is in the bag etc'. I didn't get it, it turned out not because of anything I had or hadn't done wrong but they had had new management very recently take over and they'd replaced the 2 older receptionists (they wanted 2 younger *glam* models, the HR person told me) but they also were doing a clean sweep/new management clean out, with new staff anyway.

Fast forward a few years - the whole company was taken over/bought out and the business transferred abroad, so everyone lost their jobs, so I was told.

But my main point is, if you're told you have a job in the bag - don't take it for granted. It could be management don't like you, someone else or a few other people don't like you (after you've been there 2 years) or something else entirely.

I would be wondering why you didn't get same questions and practical activities as the other candidates (as if you were told to *reapply* along with apply with the other candidates) then that would be the fairest method to me.

Maybe they felt (if you had the one student) that you hadn't handled the permanent exclusion of the student well, asked for support etc, therefore went with another candidate.

Hope you can move on and very best luck with finding another job - you should at least get a good reference from this one.