AIBU to be getting annoyed about this job now?

[Faraway75]

I applied for a job, side stepping into the exact job and hours I wanted.

Closing date was 4 weeks ago today.

After 2 weeks I emailed HR to check my application had been received ok. They said thanks and yes I will hear about interview date shortly. Didn't hear, so last week I emailed the manager of the team (HR gave email address) and he was really friendly saying that I will hear about an interview date very soon.

Still nothing.

You can view the status of your application online (it's within a council) and it says 'awaiting shortlisting'.

If you aren't selected for interview it would say so here.

AIBU to just give up now?
The wait is actually putting me off the post. I won't ask them again.

It’s August. Recruitment is usually stalled during the summer due to people’s annual leave.

I’m a Headhunter and have submitted Cvs in July that were finally called for interview in September.

It says an awful lot about the employer. I am constantly amazed at the poor manners and etiquette employers display around recruitment processes.

I just assume I will be treated like dirt when I apply for a job.

agree with ninetysixer. The people dealing with it are probably on leave.

I can't help but think if people were on leave then they wouldn't have been so strict about the closing date and start date? Which I wouldn't be able to start on due to the notice required at my current job.

I can't help but find it very rude and presumptuous that they can treat people like this - I wouldn't send my application in 4 weeks late and expect them to come running. Relaxed miffed

Civil service - yeah it's appalling. We are struggling so much with recruitment because it takes so long for things to come through central HR, get people together for shortlisting, interviews... People usually have found another job by the time we invite them for interviews.

I work for a university and it’s the same here. People have great intentions and set deadlines, interview and start dates accordingly but this often goes awry if more applications than expected are received in addition to AL, sickness etc.

Usually the start date will just be pushed back if need be.

Civil service recruitment takes ages, often due to the vast number of applicants that need sifting. This will be slower in the summer due to schism leave of those managing the recruitment process. Don't give up, just keep checking the online system it will be updated.

Oh I’m public sector too and the waiting times are appalling because units are not able to recruit directly and must direct everything through a central HR function ( who know nothing about the actual position). I wouldn’t assume they are a bad employer though based on that issue.

Oh thank you, perhaps I shouldn't write it off yet then.

I'm NHS and for large continuously hiring hospitals recruitment is shockingly bad. I know of hospitals who give their admin staff 3 month notice periods purely because of how long it takes to recruit.

I've seen several instances where a job goes out and it takes so long to get to the interview stage that half the candidates have been offered other jobs.

Essential details of the job like it being part time or unsocial hours may not even be mentioned at interview let alone in the job description.

Even if you are offered a job you will probably have to wait over a month for HR to get a contract ready.

It is the summer. I was approached to be headhunted for another job. It is equally slow in the private sector for people to get back.

I can't help but think if people were on leave then they wouldn't have been so strict about the closing date and start date? The mechanics of recruitment will be done by HR, which nowadays has increasingly been outsourced. Shortlisting is probably done round the table by a small group from the recruiting department plus maybe an HR person - although the timetable looked OK when suggested by HR, events have taken over, and it's now difficult to get all the shortlisters into the same location at the same time. Hence a delay. And there'll be another delay while they try to get an interview panel together.

Bear with it if you can - actually working with the team may be a good deal better than the recruitment process suggests.

Yes, don't let the recruitment process put you off. It will involve people who would not normally get involved in your day-to-day function and is therefore, not a direct reflection of your work environment.

Not sure what the issue is? They updated when you asked and I assume will update the portal.

Recruitment timelines only go to plan some of the time. There's sickness, holidays, internal shite, roles go on hold then come off again, trying to get everyone together to sort logistics of interview dates etc all sorts of spanners get thrown in the works when recruiting.

Where I work we had some applicants in yesterday morning for a group exercise and individual presentation. Some of them were asked to come back for interviews in the afternoon. Two job offers were made before the end of the day.

It can be done.

What everyone else said about public sector recruitment.

The recruitment process is often carried out quite separately to the team you would actually be working in. So there is probably an HR/recruitment team somewhere dealing with this application process and when they've sifted all the applications and decided who to call for interview, the line manager will be told when they are interviewing candidates and that will probably be their first input into the process. The line manager and the team might be great, and you will probably have very little contact with HR (particularly on the recruitment side) if you work there.

Ignore the start date as well. Your notice period is what it is. If they offer you the job you'll start when you can start and they'll have to accept that.

knittingdad is that public sector?

In the private sector, what you described can be done for junior roles. For more senior roles, if we really really like someone, we can schedule a marathon of interviews on the same day, including video conferences with overseas managers, going up the chain of all the necessary folk who need to approve. We have done that too but that would be well neigh impossible to organise over summer with people away.

blueshoes, no, private sector. Not a large company either that also helps.

I once had three different jobs while waiting for an application to the public sector to result in a job offer. It was worth the wait though as I ended up working there for more than a decade and only left as we were moving to a different end of the country.

YANBU but it always amazes me how long some organisations take to recruit!

I am a teacher and school recruitment is usually quite quick - probably 2 weeks max from closing date to appointment. Good job, else we would have no teachers!

My mum applied for a job at a very large hospital a few years ago. She submitted her application in time for a closing date in November. Heard nothing and so assumed she had been unsuccessful. She got a phone call in February asking her for interview!! She hadn't applied for other jobs as wasn't desperate to move from where she was but this looked interesting so she went for the interview in late Feb.

2 weeks after interview (when again, she has assumed she has been unsuccessful ) she received a call offering her the job! She accepted but it was June before she actually started

After she started, she asked the unit manager why it has taken so long and joked that she must have been the last choice. Unit manager was mortified and said that she was definitely not last choice but they had over 200 applications for 6 posts so shortlisting took ages and with Christmas, annual leave etc. the whole thing ended up taking ages!

Good luck - I hope you hear soon!

Pumpkin, omg your poor Mum! I guess all is well that ends well!!!

If this irritates you I’d think twice about working for the public sector.

I was so excited to start working at my local council but only last 8 months before the crippling bureaucracy finished me off.

They do great things and lots of them very well but it takes a certain personality type to succeed and enjoy the environment.

Another NHS here and ours on average take 3 months (that's not including getting authorisation from the operational manager and putting the job before the vacancy panel for decision). We have to specify a closing date for admin roles.
So from going out to advert, applying, closing, shortlisting, interviewing, offering to suitable applicant, awaiting their decision, sending provisional offer letter, collecting ID for DBS checks (waiting for these to be returned, sometimes up to 6 weeks!), validating employment history, checking any gaps in employment, obtaining references, sending formal offer letter... all needs to be done before the applicant can hand in their 4 weeks notice. Then they need to wait for the start of the month after their employment ends to get in the 3 day induction before they can actually start with us.

I'm public sector and applied for a job at the end of May. Got a holding email about a month later saying they would be sitting and interviewing in July. Finally had an interview a couple of weeks ago and should hear in Sept.
They are interviewing for a number of posts in different locations. The post interview stuff can also take up as much time as pre interview.
It's frustrating but you get used to it when you've been in a while.
I advertised a job myself about ten years ago. Sat on the applications for months as I had been instructed by my senior managers because a budget review meant the post could end up being scrapped. It was eventually and so I had to contact all the applicants to tell them. Got some real abuse for it (Could obviously understand their frustration) so I know full well how these things go.