Job interview delay - AIBU to have any hope?

[tympanic]

Hate my job. Hate it. A rare job that is perfect for me came up late last year. Applied and got called for an interview at the start of December. Thrilled.

The interview was a long one and despite feeling like I may have come across like a bumbling idiot I was told by the recruiter later that it went “really well”. The interviewer said there would be another “more formal” round of interviews to come. No idea how much more formal an interview could be, but fine.

There was a bit of vagueness around timelines, job specifics (newly created role) and with people going on holiday over Christmas I was told (apologetically) that there would be nothing further until they returned from leave. Return date was three weeks ago!

I’ve heard nothing so I emailed the recruitment officer Thursday just gone for an update. No reply. Very frustrated to be left in limbo, though I do realise it’s been less than two months since they contacted me for interview. Maybe this is acceptable timing, but surely if I made a good impression they wouldn’t leave me hanging…?

AIBU to remain hopeful or am I being utterly naive? 😕

I don't have an answer but im really sorry this is happening to you. It's not ok to keep candidates hanging. Perhaps you could ring them and ask for a chat? For all they know, you could have another job offer and want to weigh it up against this one. And they risk losing you.

I'm sympathetic because I'm job hunting at the moment after being made redundant in December and its very unpredictable even with big well known firms. I've been ghosted by line managers after a conversation - all sorts. It's like manners go out the window!

I think you should accept that you didn't get the job. I think you have had a lucky escape - they sound disorganised at best, and disrespectful and uncaring at worst. I very much doubt if this would have turned out to be your dream job. Somewhere more deserving of you will snap you up. Keep looking.

@Yorkshirelass04 It’s brutal out there. Thing is, I know they must realise how much I want this job given how niche it is where I live. But I have a very diverse set of skills/experience that perfectly suit the role that are also difficult to find. They conveyed this to me in the interview so I know they realise this.

I don’t feel I can call now that I’ve emailed. I’m starting to feel like I’m hounding a lover who’s just not that into me! It’s humiliating, and exactly not what I wanted to have to deal with when trying to leave a job where I’m humiliated regularly. My sense of self-worth had taken quite a hit over the past few years since I became a mother and hence deemed a non-entity in the workplace.

I hope you find something. Positive thoughts to you.

This is a terrible way to treat candidates and an insight into how they operate. What do their glassdoor reviews say?

@thebigpurpleone There are only a handful of reviews but they’re all good. It has a great reputation and staff turnover is very low. So I was really hoping for much better.

Sounds like a write off to me. Must be a very special sector or job to be treating candidates like this in the current job market. Lots of places struggling to fill vacancies at the moment.

Suggest you keep looking out there OP.

Ugh. I haven’t been this disappointed in a long, long time.