Refused me job ..aibu to feel like giving up?

[reddeadalive]

I'm 33 and my job history is mainly customer service.
In the last 11 years my mum had cancer and has passed away in September.
I kept taking breaks in my employment to look after her.
My last job was 2016
I applied for a call centre and got offered the job.
Told them my previous history but couldn't remember exact dates.
They did a Experian employment check and refused the offer.
Saying there were too many gaps in my employment.
I feel really really low.
In a ideal world my mum wouldn't have been ill and I wouldn't have had to keep leaving jobs.
Will I ever get a job again ?

I update mine as I update career role... and my qualifications ... they can check to their hearts content .... happily 🌺

I have 1 default off years ago now.
What's next not getting a job in McDonald's if your late paying your credit card.
I could understand if someone had been in jail for fraud but missed payments etc is a bit ridiculous

How many years for the default? If it's more than 6 years it won't show.
I don't know if McD's do credit checks but in any job where you might be handling cash then it's a possibility that an employer may do a credit check. If someone can't manage their own finances then there is a risk they'll not be able to handle the customers' money.

Missing payments shows unreliability and lack of organisation. Red flag for some jobs.

@reddeadalive

No I think my credit is ok. I have 1 default off years ago now. What's next not getting a job in McDonald's if your late paying your credit card. I could understand if someone had been in jail for fraud but missed payments etc is a bit ridiculous

Maccies don't do credit check. Institutions where you would be working with money usually do. Like banks for example. And I think that's understandable that if main business is money, they want someone who handles them in personal life too. Every job has different requirements, understandably.

@Hollyhocksarenotmessy

Hi OP, HR person here.

Call centres are notoriously bastards to work for (on the whole).

You told them your gaps were for caring for someone with cancer, and they have specifically said they have withdrawn the offer because of those gaps.

A person with cancer is disabled. There is such a thing as discrimination by association. (A connection to a person with a protected characteristic). You have nothing to lose by ringing their HR department and telling them how disappointed you are to have your offer withdrawn solely because of your prior connection to a person with disabilities. See if that gets your offer reinstated.

That is rubbish advice. The OP has not been turned down for the job because she was caring for someone with a disability. The employer offered her the job, despite knowing about the gap in her CV (she says in the OP that she told them). She has lost the job offer because of the discrepancies between what she told the employer about previous jobs and what Experian found, which is nothing to do with her caring role.

As for threatening the employer (by implication) with a challenge under the EA`; that is officially the crappest advice I have ever seen on MN. Do you really think that an employer is going to offer a job to someone who has - in their eyes - lied on their CV and is now threatening them?

nstitutions where you would be working with money usually do. Like banks for example. And I think that's understandable that if main business is money, they want someone who handles them in personal life too.

It's also a recognition that people who are eyeball-deep in debt are more likely to be a risk of stealing from the business or from customers, or be liable to coercion from another party into committing fraud or passing information.

First of all, sorry for your loss. In my experience, Call centres can be quite ruthless like that OP. Please don't take it personally. They aren't particularly great to work for either (again in my experience). I was treated very poorly, like a battery hen, not to move from my desk without permission, timed toilet breaks, long hours and thankless work.

@reddeadalive

No I think my credit is ok. I have 1 default off years ago now. What's next not getting a job in McDonald's if your late paying your credit card. I could understand if someone had been in jail for fraud but missed payments etc is a bit ridiculous

I'm sorry this happened to you. Have you looked at local government or civil service job pages. I have always found them to be fair in their recruitment practices.

[quote Twizbe]@ConquestEmpireHungerPlague employers have been checking references for hundreds of years. At one point not having a reference from a previous job stopped you even getting an interview. The ultimate sanction was to be dismissed without a reference.

No decent employer would let a person into their company without a reference check. That would be crazy risky, whether they are min wage or not. [/quote]
I mean, it's just not true. For higher level jobs, of course. But not for unskilled work that would have been seen as casual, no way. I did scads of jobs like that at the beginning of my career because I was 'really' in a creative profession. I was never asked for references and rarely had a proper interview either. They'd take a P45 if you had one so as not to have to put you on an emergency tax code, but no big deal if you didn't. Quite apart from anything else, jobs like that would often want you to start immediately, because crap jobs usually have a high turnover, so there wouldn't be time for the rigmarole the OP is going through. I did a few office jobs that didn't bother with references either - not so much 'casual' type work as just entry level stuff. Recruitment just wasn't so formalised in the 1980s and early 1990s. Maybe it should have been but it wasn't. And to answer a pp, all of these jobs attracted sick pay, holiday pay, etc. It's just a fact that recruitment practices have become more onerous for applicants as jobs have become more scarce, which you would expect, but it's still depressing for those of us who remember the days when you didn't have to fill out a 30-page form, provide three references and wax lyrical about your passion for retail to get a job stacking supermarket shelves. Anyway, none of this is helpful to the OP but just to commiserate.

Missing payments shows unreliability and lack of organisation. Red flag for some jobs

As a PP just said, employers may also worry about where a perceived lack of money might lead

Despite the "cash in hand" thing I'm not suggesting for an instant that OP would do something outright criminal, but it's just one more red flag which can be unhelpful when jobs are scarce

I'm sorry this happened to you. Have you looked at local government or civil service job pages. I have always found them to be fair in their recruitment practices.

It’s not unfair recruitment practice to check the accuracy of information given on the CV. It’s unhelpful to encourage the OP to believe she has been unfairly treated. She’s already at a disadvantage with a sketchy employment history having chosen to give up work for caring, so now she needs sound advice re getting back into the workplace. She’s said she’s going to check all her dates and update her CV which is exactly what she needs to do.

I mean, it's just not true. For higher level jobs, of course. But not for unskilled work that would have been seen as casual, no way. I did scads of jobs like that at the beginning of my career because I was 'really' in a creative profession. I was never asked for references and rarely had a proper interview either. They'd take a P45 if you had one so as not to have to put you on an emergency tax code, but no big deal if you didn't. Quite apart from anything else, jobs like that would often want you to start immediately, because crap jobs usually have a high turnover, so there wouldn't be time for the rigmarole the OP is going through. I did a few office jobs that didn't bother with references either - not so much 'casual' type work as just entry level stuff. Recruitment just wasn't so formalised in the 1980s and early 1990s

I agree that casual jobs were...casual in the 80s & 90s. But the risks to employers and their customers were much less. In those days, confidential information was kept in locked filing cabinets and any access that junior staff had to it could be strictly controlled. Today, someone working in a call centre may have access to the data of thousands of customers at the click of a mouse.

@Hollyhocksarenotmessy

Hi OP, HR person here.

Call centres are notoriously bastards to work for (on the whole).

You told them your gaps were for caring for someone with cancer, and they have specifically said they have withdrawn the offer because of those gaps.

A person with cancer is disabled. There is such a thing as discrimination by association. (A connection to a person with a protected characteristic). You have nothing to lose by ringing their HR department and telling them how disappointed you are to have your offer withdrawn solely because of your prior connection to a person with disabilities. See if that gets your offer reinstated.

I really hope you don’t work in HR. That’s awful advice. I hope the OP ignores it and I suggest you brush up on your HR skills. Get a qualification or two.

In the 80s & 90s ... the risks to employers and their customers were much less

They were, yes - but then so were the risks in trying to dismiss someone who turned out to be unreliable

As said I'd hope we all support proper employment rights, but it's an uncomfortable fact that the harder it becomes to remove an employee, the more careful employers will become about taking them on in the first place

I mean, it's just not true. For higher level jobs, of course. But not for unskilled work that would have been seen as casual, no way. I did scads of jobs like that at the beginning of my career because I was 'really' in a creative profession. I was never asked for references and rarely had a proper interview either. They'd take a P45 if you had one so as not to have to put you on an emergency tax code, but no big deal if you didn't. Quite apart from anything else, jobs like that would often want you to start immediately, because crap jobs usually have a high turnover, so there wouldn't be time for the rigmarole the OP is going through. I did a few office jobs that didn't bother with references either - not so much 'casual' type work as just entry level stuff. Recruitment just wasn't so formalised in the 1980s and early 1990s

Yes, but it is now, because employees have more rights, and employers more responsibility. People have fought for decades to get decent employment rights, but with that, employers are going to be much more ruthless when it comes to the hiring process - because they can't afford not to be.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

In the 80s & 90s ... the risks to employers and their customers were much less

They were, yes - but then so were the risks in trying to dismiss someone who turned out to be unreliable

As said I'd hope we all support proper employment rights, but it's an uncomfortable fact that the harder it becomes to remove an employee, the more careful employers will become about taking them on in the first place

I think we are in agreement. I am agreeing that checks now need to be more thorough because the risks to employers and customers are greater.

Ive just started a new job. The company took up my references and have ALSO asked me to sign experian consent forms for Experian to check my employment history for the last 3 years. I was employed by the same company for the last 3 years but a fellow new starter has travelled/done temporary jobs and is struggling to remember all. I suppose this is the future now and we should all resolve to keep accurate records

So do you think the default on my credit report might stop me getting a job also?
I read that the credit check looks for bankruptcy /ccj etc not defaults
Does anyone know what's correct ?

@saveforthat did you have to list all your jobs to Experian ?

Hi OP, HR person here

I'd be interested to know what you think HR stands for, @Hollyhocksarenotmessy

At the moment Red, I have just signed consent forms. I have to go through the actual form sometime next week with my manager via zoom. Luckily although I have been working since the 1970s I know all the dates.

One advice I would give to everyone reading this (some of you may already knwo) is to keep paperwork. Keep your contracts, your notices, your p60s, p45s if you have them (usually given to the job but i have few because p46 was faster), benefit letters (if you get any?), Tenancy agreements etc for last 10 years.

I do it for immigration purposes, but it has helped me when I couldn't remember dates of employment. I have payslips from pre 2009🤦 Just have a box where you put these. It's no hassle, but it can help you later.

@saveforthat oh that's good,congrats on your new job

OP, CV work history needs to be as accurate as possible. No matter what the reason was, to an employer , it shows a general lack of interest in employment if you can't remember any of it or even log dates that you worked in various places as you go. Most people have an ongoing cv that they just add to over the years and all gaps are accounted for. Did you claim carets allowance for example when you were your mums carer? This sort of thing would help.

I'm sorry you lost your mum

Do you think the default on my credit report might stop me getting a job also?

Not automatically, and it can really depend on the job. For example "financial" employers can be very sensitive to this kind of thing, others sometimes less so

I did claim carers but I really don't want to start having to show claim letters etc