DWP Job Interview blame game! 16 February at 3:22PM in Employment, jobseeking & training 12 replies 1K views

MoodyMand45

I recently had a DWP video Interview booked for MS Teams which i attended on my PC, Unfortunately the Interview people failed to join the meeting and later sent me a voicemail message claiming technical issues had prevented the Interview and that they are very sorry.
I tried contacting them by email without success and the number they called me on was an answering service 0800 dead end number which ends automatically. 
They have sent me an email message today saying the vacancy is now closed and my application will not be taken any further due to my failure to attend.

Needless to say i am very angry that the blame has been passed to me but should i just let this go now or can i pursue it or should i just move on and not take it seriously.

lisyloo

do you still have the voicemail message?
My advice is to back it up onto voice memos as it's proof.
but sounds like a mix up

eamon

Have you been allocated a "work coach"? If yes you need to speak to him/her ASAP and get your comments re this incident on record. If you don't then you risk getting sanctioned and you don't need/want that to happen. Yes take it seriously.

SiliconChip

eamon said:

Have you been allocated a "work coach"? If yes you need to speak to him/her ASAP and get your comments re this incident on record. If you don't then you risk getting sanctioned and you don't need/want that to happen. Yes take it seriously.

My interpretation of the OP is that they were applying for a job with DWP, not a job interview that DWP had arranged. But I could be wrong, it's not entirely clear.

lincroft1710

SiliconChip said:

eamon said:

Have you been allocated a "work coach"? If yes you need to speak to him/her ASAP and get your comments re this incident on record. If you don't then you risk getting sanctioned and you don't need/want that to happen. Yes take it seriously.

My interpretation of the OP is that they were applying for a job with DWP, not a job interview that DWP had arranged. But I could be wrong, it's not entirely clear.

That was also my interpretation

MoodyMand45

lincroft1710 said:

SiliconChip said:

eamon said:

Have you been allocated a "work coach"? If yes you need to speak to him/her ASAP and get your comments re this incident on record. If you don't then you risk getting sanctioned and you don't need/want that to happen. Yes take it seriously.

My interpretation of the OP is that they were applying for a job with DWP, not a job interview that DWP had arranged. But I could be wrong, it's not entirely clear.

That was also my interpretation

Yes you are correct it was a job interview, sorry i should of made it more clear to the others.

lisyloo

you have a couple of choices.

You could write a nice reply stating that in fact you did turn up and if they don't fill the vacancy you'd still be available and interested.
Or Take this as a sign of what a bunch of clowns they'd be to work for.
I guess it depends entirely on demand/supply.

MalMonroe

MoodyMand45 said:

I recently had a DWP video Interview booked for MS Teams which i attended on my PC, Unfortunately the Interview people failed to join the meeting and later sent me a voicemail message claiming technical issues had prevented the Interview and that they are very sorry.
I tried contacting them by email without success and the number they called me on was an answering service 0800 dead end number which ends automatically. 
They have sent me an email message today saying the vacancy is now closed and my application will not be taken any further due to my failure to attend.

Needless to say i am very angry that the blame has been passed to me but should i just let this go now or can i pursue it or should i just move on and not take it seriously.

I would take this very seriously as it is a grossly unfair and unprofessional way to treat interviewees. 

If it were me I would write an official complaint to DWP. Obviously that job will now have been allocated but you have been treated very badly when it was their fault.

There is information in the following link about what to do if you have a complaint about recruitment -

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/recruitment

It makes for interesting reading - especially the part about 'equality and diversity'.

You could also contact acas to ask what their take on this would be. 

https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

They could have easily phoned you to do a telephone interview or they could have rearranged the interview. This is no way to treat anyone. I would be just as angry as you feel.  

I hope you can get some kind of official apology or even compensation. 

The last step could be Employment Tribunal - but that's something to think about if your complaint doesn't make them sit up and listen. Acas can advise at a later stage if necessary.

Good luck. Please don't let them get away with treating you like this. They are a public department and they need to be held accountable.

elsien

MalMonroe said:

MoodyMand45 said:

I recently had a DWP video Interview booked for MS Teams which i attended on my PC, Unfortunately the Interview people failed to join the meeting and later sent me a voicemail message claiming technical issues had prevented the Interview and that they are very sorry.
I tried contacting them by email without success and the number they called me on was an answering service 0800 dead end number which ends automatically. 
They have sent me an email message today saying the vacancy is now closed and my application will not be taken any further due to my failure to attend.

Needless to say i am very angry that the blame has been passed to me but should i just let this go now or can i pursue it or should i just move on and not take it seriously.

I would take this very seriously as it is a grossly unfair and unprofessional way to treat interviewees. 

If it were me I would write an official complaint to DWP. Obviously that job will now have been allocated but you have been treated very badly when it was their fault.

There is information in the following link about what to do if you have a complaint about recruitment -

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/recruitment

It makes for interesting reading - especially the part about 'equality and diversity'.

You could also contact acas to ask what their take on this would be. 

https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

They could have easily phoned you to do a telephone interview or they could have rearranged the interview. This is no way to treat anyone. I would be just as angry as you feel.  

I hope you can get some kind of official apology or even compensation. 

The last step could be Employment Tribunal - but that's something to think about if your complaint doesn't make them sit up and listen. Acas can advise at a later stage if necessary.

Good luck. Please don't let them get away with treating you like this. They are a public department and they need to be held accountable.

Can you go to an employment tribunal if you’ve never been employed by the people in question? And compensation for what? There is no proof of financial loss because there is no guarantee that the OP would’ve got the job even if they had an interview.

Also not entirely sure why you’re talking about equality and diversity when the OP has given no information at all that would suggest anything that happened would be a breach of equality legislation.

goater78

It’s unprofessional and I think you should register a complaint but unfortunately you’re not going to get this job.  They’ve offered it to someone else and they’re not going to withdraw their job offer to allow them to interview you. 

Best case result for you would be that it’s on your record that you weren’t a no show so that if another vacancy does appear then your application is not rejected because of this incident. 

ACAS or an employment tribunal can’t help you so wouldn’t bother contacting them. Would be a waste of your time. 

saker75

This is poor and you should follow up in writing, but don’t burn bridges unnecessarily. I, and several people I’ve met later in life, was successful at interview for DWP (graduate entry level) but the jobs themselves never materialised and I was on a waiting list for years - I kept saying yes when they asked if I still wanted to be on it, despite having a job in another field. 

It’s a mistake and maybe they’ll send you straight to interview next time round.