Sixteen Interviews, and nothing. What can I do?

[Notthesamepersonanymore]

That's it basically.

I took redundancy nearly two years ago after a period of depression caused by bullying. Once I left, I was fine - no need for ADs or anything.

I'm in my forties.

I was very well respected and good at what I did. I earned £40k

I've now interviewed for sixteen jobs over the past 18 months or so, and I haven't been able to get one.

I've had lots of second interviews, I've done lots of presentations and 'tasks' and had numerous feedback conversations where I'm told I was a very strong candidate, 'just pipped', someone else had a bit more experience in a certain area than I did.

About a year ago I was told by one company - after three rounds of interviews - that I just didn't have enough experience in a certain area. Over the past year I have worked solidly to build that up, and I applied again for them recently. Today I discovered I didn't even get a second interview.

I set myself up as self employed and I make a small amount of money that way. I don't claim any benefits, I work all the hours I can and have gained lots of additional skills and experience. It's not made a difference.

I have been offered one job - at the beginning. It was for £20k. I wish I'd taken it now.

My redundancy money is almost all gone, and I'm really frightened about how we're going to live. I don't want to let my family down.

Does anyone have any positive stories to cheer me up because right now I feel so completely and utterly miserable?

Are you sure you're applying for jobs in your skill set I. E. If you're under qualified they'll expect you to leave once you find something else

Also, on your LinkedIn page do you have a headline?

Something to describe you really well.

OK so maybe have you stopped putting your personality across? Are you just answering in a functional tick box way? Are your facial expressions being interpreted as disinterest when it's resignation and lack of confidence?

I was always coming second and it was starting to affect my confidence badly. Just before I went for my last interview someone gave me a piece of advice, "Own the job". I did and I think that makes a simple but crucial difference to the way you present yourself. I start on Monday.

@IfNotNowThenWhen1 I totally agree, ageism is a bastard. I try not to use it as an excuse, but I do feel that it's a factor. I know that the people I'm competing with don't have anything like my range of skills and experience.

Keepmoving has a good idea I. E suggesting a contract in the meantime

Also, this may not be entirely ethical but if you're desperate you could always try calling afterwards and saying you need to know if they're moving forward, as you've been offered another role? Might speed them up a bit

@Haireverywhere probably the opposite actually. I don't expect to get the job so I smile and relax and have a lovely friendly conversation.

OP, no advice but I want to say that my heart goes out to you. You are doing everything right so it's only a matter of time before you get a break.

@moredoll What did you actually do differently?
See, with this job I just failed to get a second interview for (despite having had three last year and having filled all the gaps in my experience) - I worried that I'd come across too much like I 'owned the job' and that's why I didn't get asked back,

Then I am out of ideas sorry!

Is it just a matter of time? Don't let it ruin your confidence. You sound so skilled.

@DisrespectfulAdultFemale @Haireverywhere and everyone else...thank you so much for all you responses. I'd curled up in a ball in bed at seven o'clock because I was so bloody miserable, but you've all been so kind I am feeling much better.

Well I knew I knew the company and the role inside out. I got DP to grill me on the website and to ask questions. Some he was genuinely curious,.which really helped actually. We also discussed the actual job. We did this for a few evenings.
On the day I left in plenty of time and had about 40 mins in a cafe thinking about how my previous experience tied in with the role. I went into the interview room with a smile actually thinking "I'm going to show them how well I can do this job". I had to give a short presentation and I'd researched and practiced that so it went very well. I knew the presentation had gone well so I was less nervous for the actual interview.

😂 I have heard this working. We now live on ‘go gtter’ World. Hey you’ve got nothing to lose

@moredoll Well done, that's really fabulous.

@Leobynature I guess not. I'll look for an opportunity to try it and let you know!

Have you considered temp to perm positions? ( if that's possible in your line of work)
In a very similar position to you but not so high up the wage scale and I've just been accepted for a a long term temp assignment with the possibility of it going permanent in a 6/9 months depending on the financial climate ( gotta love Brexit)
It's something to consider ?

Ageism - I see this before my eyes, it's worst as a female in male dominated field. I don't expect to work in the same field again if I am made redundant, I am in my forties.

Makes me so worry, how are we going to survive if we have to work til we are at least 67?

@Shampoo0 You are absolutely spot on. I should be tucking money away into my pension, not looking at the last bit of our savings getting smaller and smaller.

I don't know if there is anything I can say to help - 10 interviews and a year of jobseeking before I got my current position. Somehow I had become LESS employable despite 9 years in a demanding STEM role where I had continued to publish.
Thing is I have AS, am female and work in a male-dominated field so I suspect there was some discrimination going on there.

I think you might be at the mercy of AI and algorithms which are increasingly being used by recruiters. It might be worth asking a careers specialist about what are the best keywords to use for the job you want - certainly I had a couple of odd interviews when it transpired they were looking at he bloodied mangled corpse of my CV.

Thing is jobseeking is actually insane in that you are literally doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. But you will get nowhere if you stop.

Good luck OP.

OP, nothing to add from last evening but I want you to know that I am thinking of you. Feel free to PM me if you ever want to chat. You sound lovely and I really want you to come through this.

You should feel really proud of yourself that you are getting interviews and second interviews at all. It's not easy to get to the stage you are getting to. So you are definitely doing a lot of things right. It's extremely frustrating that you're not getting the job but it WILL happen.

Speak to HR and ask for proper feedback. Call all the companies you got to second interview with and ask if other roles have / are coming up that you could be suitable for. There are often jobs 'under the radar' that aren't being advertised publicly which you won't know about. Companies have to appoint for these roles via agencies which cost ££ so if there are good people coming forward without an agency fee you stand a good chance.

Keep going OP, don't let this grind you down. It'll all fall into place.

Yes to the CV mangling. I noticed this on ‘Indeed’ and had to tweak my CV until it still came out ok once it was put through the mangle!

Good luck. It is really hard. When I was going back to work after a career break it was ‘lucky 17’ for me - I was a good fit for the job I eventually got but I also think my sheer bloody desperation must have come across too!

I know where you are coming from with the resigned to rejection and it shows. I now go to interviews expecting not to get the job and I am a tick boxing exercise, I am late 50's. The feed back from interviews is always very good and I have been piped to the post a few times. I have been told I am over qualified / not enough experience at times. I feel like asking them why they bothered to interview me then if they already knew that. Heartily fed up of applying for jobs, even those I would never have considered once I do not get an interview for.

I would definitely test asking to meet the team before interview on a job you're not hugely passionate about - it may well work; but equally, it might scare the interviewers a bit! Recruitment as an industry seems to value and stick to its norms strongly.

It could work well to ask to meet the team after the second interview; if it's gone well, or once you've got an offer, but sooner than that could be risky.

Best of luck with your hunt though. Both of the big companies I work with are doing minimal employment above the lower bands (up to about £25k) at the moment; I think sadly because of Brexit uncertainty. We're still interviewing, but nobody will be confirmed until January at least. I do wish they'd make that clearer in the ads; but I'm nothing to do with HR!

It'll happen; and I hope it happens soon

I was in a very similar situation to BestIsWest. Redundant at 49, went for a job I was overqualified for, and got it. Ended up after a few years at a similar level of management and income. It was local authority/public sector, and in my experience those organisations can be filled with time servers leaving few opportunities for new blood.

I hope things work out soon for you OP.

Have you thought of working for the probation service? You could begin as an unqualified officer (probation service officer) on approx £22k then if wanted to could undertake paid for in-work qualification and become a probation officer beginning on approx £29k.

Both NPS and CRC are crying out for staff and you sound like you'll have excellent transferable skills you could use for application and interview.

You could work in the community or in a prison with this.

Probation is one of the recruiters who value all ages who apply and recognise every age and experience has it's qualities.

If this interests you feel free to message me if want info/help as I'm a Probation Officer.

And ignore the spelling mistake in my username...I can't remember my flippin password to change it!