To think I should have let him fail the interview?

[TheMessyCleaner]

I had an interview for a cleaning job this morning. There was one other candidate, a man in his forties; English wasn't his first language. He was late for the interview but as they weren't on time calling us in no one noticed.
We spoke for quite a while and I really hoped that he did alright as he needed the job. We were then left alone to do an English and maths exam. He looked really stressed and asked me what to do. I tried to help him by reading the questions, he still looked confused. Anyway I ended up helping him so much that he ended up passing me the pen and test. I refused to actually write the answers for him but I did tell him if he was wrong if he directly asked me.
When we were called in for the interview, the interviewer said 'messy, you first, sorry mr X I know you arrived first, but messys name is first on my list.' The other man didn't correct him, even though I was there ten minutes before him.
Now I just have a horrible feeling that I might have done myself out of a job. I was trying to be helpful but I basically gave the man a lot of insight into the job whilst we were waiting as I had researched where the job was and what we were doing and he hadn't. Then there was the test, and them thinking I was late.

Neither of you was a suitable candidates for the job.

You were dishonest and so was he.

Neither of you contradicted the stated assumption that he had arrived before you did. He asked you for help in the test and you gave it.

If I were the interviewer and thought your bleeding heart would get the better of you in a medium to secure unit, I would not hire you.

In the course of your research, did you come across elements of the job description that included the need for resisting emotional manipulation by inmates, being direct and completely upfront 'immediately' with security staff about any forbidden items you found while cleaning, any messages between inmates that you intercepted, any attempts by inmates to communicate with you?

It might be interesting to know if the arrivals at the interview waiting room were being filmed, ditto the testing room.

There was no reason for a test to ask candidates to spot the correct spelling of a word like 'immediately'. No matter how many Ls, Ms, etc there are in any given misspelling, that word is completely readable.

Same goes for the remark about who came first that was clearly not accurate.

I think both of you fell into a trap, OP.

“It's kind of condescending of you TBH, I'm under 40, and I know how to dress well and present myself in a professional manner, and we was taught about it at school.”

Starting to see a point about English tests.

You've shot yourself in the foot. It wouldn't have mattered if you were ambivalent about the job, but one that pays that well?

Starting to see a point about English tests.

Yes, I see my mistake.

However, it's not due to my poor education, I have quite a few connective tissue disorders which affect my abilities to function at 100% and can render me slightly cognitively impaired, especially in the morning. It's no fun, but it is what it is.

But it's always nice to be condescended to about it.

To be honest OP, you may have helped an unqualified person to cheat his way into a position where he can damage assets, endanger other staff and clients or at least make their jobs stressful.

Being a cleaner might not be an issue for you, but it is not your call to decide whether the employer requirements should be ignored or not. I have been in the position of temporarily having to instruct cleaners in a business setting who hadn’t the language skills to do the job. It took hours, led to a lot of misunderstandings, stuff got damaged, and other staff got resentful of having to help translate all the time. You have done a disservice to the organisation and should be ashamed of yourself.

And no, you are not here to put the world to rights just because you went to university. You need to respect that even if you ended up with a professorship that makes you an expert in a precise area of knowledge, you cannot assume you know better when it comes to things you hardly know anything about.

It might be interesting to know if the arrivals at the interview waiting room were being filmed, ditto the testing room.

Would that be legal, if there was no notice? Or perhaps they had a general notice at the entrance to the building advising about cameras.

Only read the start of the thread yesterday, and this last page now, but gobsmacked that anyone would actively help their rival for a job. If this is real the OP needs to toughen up. Mr 'Please Help Me' will be pocketing £18 an hour while the OP continues to struggle financially.

The more I think about this, the more I think that they had cameras in the test room.

This isn’t nice-it was weird! You were in a competitive situation for something you’ve stated you really need but helped your competition in many ways. But poor him and all those poor people who don’t get the job! Interviews are always like that-and there will always be one person who gets it whilst everyone else is disappointed.

Helping him, directly hindered your chance, even by a little.

The more I think about this, the more I think that they had cameras in the test room.

An interesting point. Given that the job is in a secure unit, it’s possible that the ‘real’ test was how easily someone could be swayed into doing something unethical on behalf of someone with a sad story about how they ended up in their current situation.

Never mind the younger generation, OP, it’s clear you need to learn how to sell yourself to employers.

I think it's unfair on the employer actually. He's obviously got shit timekeeping and his written English isn't good enough.

But you've hoodwinked them by doing what you did.

I wouldn't ever do something like that again.

Exactly, why prioritise helping him over helping the company - why risk them employing someone who isn’t suitable.

An interesting point. Given that the job is in a secure unit, it’s possible that the ‘real’ test was how easily someone could be swayed into doing something unethical on behalf of someone with a sad story about how they ended up in their current situation.

I was thinking the same thing.

In these conditions, the inmates usually use people like this, custodians, doctors, people they feel they can manipulate. And it can seem like an innocent thing they are requesting, and it could turn out to be sinister and put people's lives at risk.

I think the real test was to see how easily swayed you were by a sob story
You can't choose which rules to follow

Your threat title: I should have let him fail... ?!

The way thats written sounds like you have the power to do that, and that he wasnt capable. You've assumed so much. As an interviewer I see how often candidates misinterpret the intentions of any given part of interviews.

To work in a secure unit, trust and honesty would need to play an essential part in the selection process, and you cheated.

People get deliberately pitted against each other in vivas to see what happens, to observe the interplay and who's prepared to do what.

You've essentially cheated. You've been to uni, which means you have done more than enough exams, and are intelligent enough, to know how they work, and what the rules are when sitting tests. This is not a matter of you helping your children to do homework, this is a grown man in competition with you for a lucrative post which could lift you and your family out of debt! Fight for this!

Test situations are observed. Especially where more than one candidate at a time is involved.

This man may be far more capable than you at this job, this man may also have been a stooge, because of the environment you were going into, and I would say based on that alone, the role wouldn't be suitable for you without some significant awareness training.

You have made some very discriminatory comments about the under 40's! And sweeping generalisations about the over 40's! Neither of which are true.

All in the name of kindness and guilt to control this mans chances, which you can't have control over. You were not interviewing him, so you can have no idea.

Inside a confidential space with an interviewer people present very differently than when amongst their fellow interviewees.

I really hope you hear in the positive, as you need this job so badly, but protect yourself in future and be aware of the prejudices you have shown through this interview process. It will help you to focus on what you need to do, and not others.

I think most of us would have given to odd spelling or something, but you essentially worked together to complete his test. Didn't you think you were cheating?

You were nice. That’s a good thing. Maybe it would be a better world if we were all like this. Bet you get it. Pay your debt tho, don’t give the money away.

Did you get the job, Messy?

Yes I did, one point between us apparently.

Name change fail?

You're a cheat, op. Not kind.

You sound very kind but need better boundaries. It’s not always a good thing to be so obliging.

Well done! Good luck getting your finances in order!

Any candidate over 40 is usually immaculate, well organised, on time. Under 40, it's a whole different story.. . Education really needs to be more than just Uni.*
Lots of schools do interview practice and skills and work experience

''I can't find an admin job that pays over £9''.... Perhaps that's due to the huge numbers of unskilled, unqualified economic migrants coming to this country, resulting in an over supply of cheap labour causing stagnant and suppressed pay levels for such jobs?

I’m another one who thinks what you did was kind. I can’t imagine sitting there ignoring someone struggling, and it’s not as if you did anything to influence his actual
Interview. Also, the question of who arrived first (unless I’ve missed something) doesn’t sound very important.
OP this is a bit of a leap but I think you’ve implied that the jobs you’re going for aren’t stretching you much, so... if you felt naturally drawn to helping this chap, do you think you might enjoy work that involved some kind of teaching or learning support?