To think this is unfair and that I wasn’t given a fair chance at my new job.

[Sunnysideup95]

Recently I started a new job at a recruitment agency, for what would have been my first proper job. I was interviewed for an office administration position. A few days later I received a call from them and they said the position has gone to somebody else but there is another department within the same agency who need an administrator and they could take me on.

On my first day I arrived and soon found out it wasn’t an office admin job but was to call up nursing staff and see if they were available to take a job in care home that the agency had on their lists. A lot of the times I was ringing up and they would say they are not available to work that day. I felt pressure as I was just given a list of names and contact numbers and had to ring anybody on the list. I had no training and nobody helped or really told me what I needed to be doing

A few days later I was called in to the office by office manager who said he had been listening to my calls and thinks I’m not right for the job. But I was never told what to say to the nursing staff on their lists and was just trying my best

Aibu to think this isn’t fair

I think it's completely impersonal. Read 'You're not right for the job' as 'We have our own reason for not wanting you in this job right now.'

It's not that you are inadequate. You can make a phone call, I'm sure. You can't work miracles with people who have somewhere else to be that day. The people you called might already have had contact with the company and decided not to go with them again.

Whatever it is, don't pay it any mind. It's three days. I did three days packing buns in a bakery when I was sixteen, decided I'd rather be broke, and quit. I did three nights on a sex chat line - fun but my babysitting arrangement broke down. I did six weeks in an office where people didn't know how to separate printed copies without standing on a chair and letting the pack fall the floor like a waterfall. I worked to the end of my contract but I don't know how I stood it.

There'll be jobs where your employment is terminated and jobs you choose to leave. Don't take it to heart.

She did it though. She picked up the phone and called. What more training is required? They wanted a self starter - someone who was going to be the sort to be able to persuade and manipulate. OP is probably too nice and no training is ever going to change that.

I would steer clear of recruitment agencies.

I don't get why they try to be pushy when it's obvious the answer is going to be no.

For example: I have been contacted by recruitment agents try to fill a position, the package is worse than I am currently on, so naturally I say no! But they still keep pushing. Obviously the answer is always going to be no.

I completely agree

I am typically on the receiving end of these phonecalls. I have all the numbers blocked and delete the messages that are left. This type of hounding doesn't work for most people so don't worry OP you haven't done anything wrong and it's a big task getting people to sign up.

life isnt fair. fact is the job is no longer and dwelling won't change a thing.

I know this is disappointing but please be assured you've dodged a bullet. Recruitment is an awful job.

I had a similar experience, went for a sector role but turned out they wanted me to be a recruiter for that sector. I told them no thanks but not until I'd wasted two bloody interviews on it.

Disregard this job. If you wasn't there long, don't even add it to your CV. You will find a better job. Aim high and don't let this knock your confidence.

Recruitment can be a tough industry, so try not to worry about it OP. Onward amd upward.
I lasted 1 month at a recruitment agency as my first job out of Uni.
I was constantly told how 'quiet' I was, even though they had basically segregated me into an isolated desk on my own, on the opposite side of the room to everyone else - the 'training desk' apparently.
I didn't have the personality type for cold calling. It was high-end recruitment and I told one prospective candidate that his current role sounded perfect and, if I were him, I'd be staying put!
The whole thing finally came crashing down when I was asked for a 'catch up to see how I'm getting on' by the owner of the company, during which he actually asked me to sell him a pen 🙈🙉🙊

You’ve dodged a bullet. Being shunted into a different job, given no training and expected to magic up staff who aren’t available? That is not the sort of place to find your feet as a first job.

Recruitment agencies are arseholes anyway - one placed me in my first job and they lied to the company about how experienced I was (which was not at all, given it was my first job). The company ended my contract after about a month when it became clear I didn’t know how to do any of the things the agency had told them I could.

The agency then had the cheek to tell ME that I’d lied to THEM when I’d done nothing of the sort!

Chuck ’em in the fuck it bucket and leave them behind.

Oh and I also fraudulently gamed the system within that month, which helped to hide how utterly shit I was at the job.
We had to log a certain amount of cold calling time per day, which was recorded on a Leader Board.
I worked out which organisations had the longest automated phone menus: "All calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. For queries about X, press 1. For queries about Y, press 2" and so on. I then phoned those numbers over and over again, cutting off just as I'd worked my way through the menu, but never quite reaching a person to speak to. It enabled me to accumulate an enormous amount of calling time, which got me to the top of the Leader Board!! 😅

They sound awful. I think you have had a lucky escape. Hope that another job comes your way soon.

Most people can pick up a phone and say are you available to work a X Care Home between Monday and Wednesday next week though.

The basic training would be call these people and ask if they are free to work here between those dates. Training done.

It is OK to not like the job. The firm obviously thought better of hiring OP if she can't manage that without input. OP doesn't like the on anyway so best to move on.

greenteaandmarshmallows
RosieBurdock

I don't think op was expecting "extensive" training, but they gave her zero training, which is lazy and crap. She's dodged a bullet.

They probably need someone who can pick up a list of people and phone them without any training

I'm sure the OP doesn't need training on how to use a phone and talk to people. What she DID need was 'training' and guidance on how to get a 'yes' out of the people she was calling. Even an hour or so of listening in to other colleagues' calls would have given her a fighting chance and any business worth its salt would have provided her with this.

Don't dwell on this OP, I've had jobs where I stood it for a day (but people raved about working there), and jobs where I stayed with the company for years You'll find your fit.

I disagree. It's like if I went for an audition to sing in a musical theatre - they'd know even if they taught me the lines and gave me singing lessons I'd still not be good enough

@Sunnysideup95 it sounds as though the company is very badly managed, and the fact that the job did not work out is their failure, not yours.

It is annoying that you have to restart a job search, but the experience does not mean you are incompetent - it means they are. Some companies and managers just are. Best thing is to move on and not waste any more of your time on them.

OP - you definitely dodged a bullet. This sounds like a company that just wanted someone to cold call and if they turned out to be OK at the job then great - and if not, they just let them go and hoped to rope in another sucker tomorrow.

I've seen this before. I once went for a job that involved using my language skills on the phone and at the "interview" I was sat in a booth with a phone and handed a list of numbers to call and a script to follow. I was told that these were just "test calls" to other agents elsewhere in the building who would be evaluating my language skills and listening to how I came across and how well I adhered to the script.

After the first three calls it was clear to me that these were actually live, cold calls to real businesses, not "test calls" and that I was being conned (and used as free labour), so I took off the headset, stood up and asked someone the way to the exit. A very officious and bossy supervisor came over and asked what the f* I thought I was doing and told me that I wasn't allowed to leave. I just ignored her and walked out, but there was a brief moment when I thought things might get physical.

Bad employers and companies bordering on scammers exist everywhere, and are particularly keen to find inexperienced people looking for their "first real job" that they can exploit*. Put it down to experience and consider that you've hopefully now added a "bullshit detector" to your skill set.

[* See also - Unpaid "trial weeks" in double glazing/kitchen/home improvement call centres. Unpaid "trial shifts" in cafes and restaurants. "Commission only" so-called jobs where you're self-employed and sometimes have to pay for stock or "training" before even starting.]

@Sunnysideup95
Obviously do not answer this if you don't want to, but was this job in Glasgow by any chance?

They’ve misrepresented the job, so are basically dishonest from the off set, consider it a lucky escape.
They should have let you shadow someone for a few days, to at least give you a sense of what was expected.
I disagree that sales skills are innate qualities that can’t be taught, it’s just most people are not money hungry enough to manipulate people for their own gain.
I’d also bet money that in this company you could be the best worker to walk the earth and it would never be enough.
I hope you find something better for you soon.

I do this exact job, asking a brand new starter to ring nurses for shifts is madness - they are a shite company I’m sorry but find something else, never in a million years would a reputable agency cover shifts like this or have someone brand new calling their staff on the first day!

she just sort of laughed and didn’t really say much
This alone is your answer. This lady told you it was a shit job without telling you it's a "shit job". Don't feel bad and thank your lucky stars. This probably wasn't the place where you'd like to carry on working. The lady who laughed told you the manager was shit without actually saying it. Learn to read the room and trust your gut. When you offered you a job and tehn offered you something else, and then gave you no help... look at all them red flags all lined up and flying in the wind!
Don't dwell on what happened. If it makes you feel better this is probably the sort of place where pregnant ladies are "kept" in a tiny room in the basement so they'll break and want to leave of their accord (thus saving teh company a bundle).

Don’t feel bad about it, it’s them not you, they will have done this intentionally. Recruitment agencies are notorious for doing things like this, advertising fake jobs or over advertising and interviewing for the one “good” job they have, and then once you’re signed up, offering you the rubbish jobs. They probably had this in mind all along.

Wow that’s pretty harsh did you not read the bit where Op said this was their first proper job?
Im sure as someone with many years work and life experience you would be fine that’s not the case here

Oh please - there is some utter bollocks being posted on this thread!!

Any half-decent organisation should provide induction training! I sold advertising in a shitty local paper after I graduated and even there I got training!!

At the very basic level, there should have been some 'sitting with Nellie', to see how other people do it. A script should have been available to guide you what to say @Sunnysideup95. It's not recruitment in an agency anyway - it's sales, and cutthroat sales at that. All of that as an aside to not placing you in the job you applied for in the first place!!\

I'm sorry that this has been your first workplace experience but there's a lot of shysters out there. I think you are best off out of it. You did nothing wrong and don't let anyone make you feel that you did.

You could always register with a different agency for temp work. That would help you gain experience. See if you can find out which ones have contracts with local big companies/public bodies. Often these temp assignments can lead to permanent jobs, and even if they don't, then you have some experience to move forward. Very best wishes x

@Havanananana your post reminded me of an incident in my first job after uni (referenced above). I stuck out just over a year of being utterly miserable in the shitty job.

However, I recall, on one occasion, a new recruit started, and by 11am she had told them all to go fuck themselves and walked out! How I admired her balls lol!

I think the job you were given could be loosly described as 'admin' even though it was 't what you were expecting. It does sound as if you were ill prepared to carry out the task confidently. Perhaps you should consider taking a course in a local college offering an office skills type course.,