After sticking with it for nearly 2 years, DS has given up on his dream

[FinnyStory]

Bloody Capita "managing" Army recruitment.

Since he was 13 DS1's only ambition has been to be an Army Officer. Threw himself into everything as a cadet and succeeded there in a way he never did at school.

Not naturally academic, he had to work really hard to get the A level grades needed, which he did.

Submitted his application in Nov 2018 and spent 9 months being constantly told they needed this piece of information then another piece, all of which were sent straightaway and acknowledged. At one point they cancelled his application because he hadn't responded, when he had emails confirming they had everything they needed.

Then spent a day travelling for the medical and was deferred because of his hearing. Despite having met the published standard, he showed some slight hearing loss which they wanted investigating. Fair enough but it took 4 months to arrange the follow up appointment.

The Consultant wrote a letter saying he did show slight hearing loss but no cause for concern just to be careful with hearing protection. This was sufficient for them to reject him on medical grounds, despite the fact that he had met their own standard and their doctor wasn't concerned.

He appealed and won but this took another 5 months.

Then he was due to go for selection which was cancelled due to lockdown.OK I'll give them that, it wasn't their fault.

However, the process apparently restarted in June but by this time his original medical is a year old and he needs another one, before he goes for selection which is currently set for September. He's been told he must not attend if he doesn't have an up to date medical.

He has been promised a medical date before then but nothing has been forthcoming. He has phoned and/or emailed everyday for the last month chasing up this medical appointment. The person he needs is either not there, promises to call straight back or doesn't return his calls. The emails are unanswered. He's asked to speak to someone in charge and was promised a call within 48 hours but...

This is for a lad who was the most senior/successful Army cadet in the county and has an absolutely glowing recommendation from the County Commandant, a recently retired General. They should be chasing him, not the other way round.

Anyway, today, he's decided enough's enough and it's no longer his chosen path.

I'm just venting really but isn't it reassuring to know our military is so well organised?!

Did you post about this recently? It really rings a bell

@Bishybarnybee are you joking? He's done bloody well to persevere as long as he has. What a crying shame. Capita are absolutely hopeless.

and @Pancakeorcrepe - what a lovely bunch of people you are. Sorry OP - you and your son deserved better responses than these.

Two years! And how much longer should he give it? How much longer should he hang around not starting to build a career, not being able to decide whether to make a home for himself or not, probably not being able to fully commit to possible relationships in case he suddenly has to up and go?

Absolutely ridiculous, nasty for the sake of it replies on this thread.

yeah i read that her son had been waiting nearly 2 years for his job application to go through, in a job he is better suited for than most people, in a procedure paid for by the tax payer, which featured astronomical levels of incompetence.

i dunno what you read.

The suggestion of degree apprenticeship and army reserves was very wise. Best of all worlds there.

He has made his choice. But I would have been following up on the medical appointment -contacting PALS when they didn't get back to me. Still not getting back to me -I'd do local MP.

For the sake of a medical report -and all those appeals -what a waste.

I once interviewed someone who applied for the same thing 5 times -each time he was second due to "an exceptional candidate". And yet, he did not give up. The 6th time we interviewed him -we appointed him. Within two years he was running the team.

OP it is the Army's loss by the sounds of it. A degree apprenticeship is a fantastic offer. And you don't risk your son dying in action-I'd be thrilled :)

@FinnyStory

Asking for emails to be answered, for them to follow their own medical requirements and advice is special treatment?

Would you stick with a job application process that took 2 years?

Anyway, it doesn't matter now, he's made his decision and he has another excellent offer.

I stuck my training and incompentence of the highest order within that and harassment and sexist remarks to qualify for 7 years.

If he can take a deep breath and keep on applying I think it would be good if he could - it might be an awful What If to carry around with him.

Ignore the snarky dickheads on here that think that 2 years is a reasonable time to mess around with an application (!?)

To those who are writing sneering posts about 'Mummy googles' and the like - Private Eye have been writing about Crapita's incompetence, including in respect of Army recruitment, for quite some time...

Hope he enjoys his apprenticeship and does fantastically well in what he does.

My DH was in the forces for 21 years, he left almost 10 years ago. He doesn’t miss the bureaucracy!

Sounds to me like he is a hard working lad who would have done extremely well if they had been able to get their act together.

Putting up with incompetence that goes on for so long doesn’t sound like a route to job satisfaction to me.

Mummy goggles? He sounds like he will be fine in his new chosen career.

Crapita are a shitshow, I hope though that he does have a change of heart and uses the frustration to motivate him to prove them wrong, it sounds like he would be an asset.

Capita are really crap, my son's army application took two years, and many times it seemed like the left hand hadn't a clue what the right hand was up to! He phoned up one day for some more advice on something, it must have been his turn to speak to the one with the brain, and he was given a date to start 😲 My friends son has gone through a very similar thing with the Marines as well, he's finally got a date after nearly two years

MN is just so fucking sneery and snarky these days.

Sad but true. AIBU has always been robust, but it seems to attract some absolutely spiteful arseholes these days. Usually within two replies to the OP.

Some people really need to take a long, cool look at how they conduct themselves.

@WarmSausageTea

MN is just so fucking sneery and snarky these days.

Sad but true. AIBU has always been robust, but it seems to attract some absolutely spiteful arseholes these days. Usually within two replies to the OP.

Some people really need to take a long, cool look at how they conduct themselves.

Worst part is this isn't even in AIBU, it's in chat!

Op, sorry your DS went through this - it’s sounds terribly frustrating.
Ignore the dickheads on the thread, their replies tell you all you need to know about them.

I was TUPED to Capita a few years ago. They were completely useless and messed up what was a very good business within months. I took redundancy and left as soon as I could. Your sons experience doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Ignore the nasty comments. Your son sounds wonderful and I think spending 2 years trying to join up is extremely commendable. Good luck to him for the future.

God some people really do take the opportunity to be absolute cunts dont they?

OP that sounds really frustrating and such a shame. Is there anything else that he actually WANTS to do? The process sounds absolutely ridiculous but he could really regret not keeping at it if he doesnt have a back up that he actually wants to do.

Bloody hell, @Ickabog, so it is! So now Chat’s a bear pit? Great.

I hope your son is happy and fulfilled in whatever path he takes , my son is very well qualified , has a good income and has job satisfaction through an apprenticeship .
You sound like any mother who wants the best for their child, rightly so, ignore the snide comments.