Applied for a job which didn't exist!

DCFC79

Good luck with the letter and invoice, being serious there.

Let us know how it goes.

sangie595

The Civil Service does not have fake jobs. It has jobs. Jobs that they are often, these days, unable to fill due to budget cuts. If you wish to complain about this and send them an invoice, the correct address is:
HM Government, c/o Theresa May, 10 Downing Street, London.
I'm sure she'll get around to it once she has negotiated Brexit...

TELLIT01

Those of us who have worked for the Civil Service know that they take months to make a decision on anything, but often then change the decision at the drop of a hat. At the time the ad was placed there would have been the intention of recruiting, they don't spend money on recruitment campaigns for the fun of it. At some point a decision was made higher in the organisation to change something so those potential jobs disappeared. It's maddening but it's also a fact of life.

ssparks2003

As a recently ex-manager in a fairly senior role within the civil service I have had to endure recruitment being frozen mid process a number of times. The roles that were advertised were real live roles and there is still a need for them to be filled. They are on hold due to department budgets, the roles will come live again (most likely towards April) but due to spend restraint they are on hold. You have no claim for your costs because for whatever reason an offer has not been forthcoming, so your wife either has to sit tight and wait for the role to come live again or go and find a job elsewhere.

PasturesNew

With such a large number it sounds like they were "planning a project" - and as part of that brought together their fictional team to run it - and then they presented their project plan/costings to a board and it was refused.

Budget was cut probably.... and think of the waste of money going through that whole exercise to not get it signed off. It probably cost the taxpayer £100k just to get a "No".

jrck2

Clear consensus that we should get off our high horse. We will. Now feel a bit silly about it actually...

Will do a friendly email asking for travel expenses and expressing interest should they re-open the vacancy.

thanks,
jack

marliepanda

jrck2 wrote: »

Clear consensus that we should get off our high horse. We will. Now feel a bit silly about it actually...

Will do a friendly email asking for travel expenses and expressing interest should they re-open the vacancy.

thanks,
jack

Asking for the first bit will absolutely preclude your wife from the second...

seashore22

What everyone else has said.

I had an interview for the civil service many years ago and didn't get the job. I did get another one and accepted. A few weeks later I was contacted and offered another job with the civil service.

I can't quite believe that you want to do what you have written in your post. Do not write a letter or ask for expenses if your wife has any interest in a future career in the civil service.

ReadingTim

jrck2 wrote: »

Clear consensus that we should get off our high horse. We will. Now feel a bit silly about it actually...

Will do a friendly email asking for travel expenses and expressing interest should they re-open the vacancy.

thanks,
jack

The time to ask about travel expenses is before you incur them, not afterwards.

Cheeky_Monkey

jrck2 wrote: »

Clear consensus that we should get off our high horse. We will. Now feel a bit silly about it actually...

Will do a friendly email asking for travel expenses and expressing interest should they re-open the vacancy.

thanks,
jack

So you haven't actually learnt anything from the responses you've received then!