Feeling upset about not getting job

[Mysticaltay]

I have been a sahm for 6 years, raising my dc. Before that I was at university and had a part time job. I’m late 20’s now with no career and need to get into full time work.

I was contacted by a recruiter for an operations assistant role and put forward. I wasn’t bothered but decided to just let them out my cv forward. I had an interview with the company on Tuesday and although I did rubbish, the actual job and company itself was AMAZING. Like this is literally a job in a dream company that I could never get in to. This would be a dream to get, seriously not realistic that I would ever manage to work for a company like this.

it’s a global company with headquarters all around the world, it’s London office is 5 minutes from where I live in the most luxurious London cooperate office - as soon as I walked in I was amazed and knew I wasn’t ever going to land the role! Although the role is quite basic at first just with admin duties, they want the candidate to be trained to be the actual operator within 6-12 months! Which is a wage increase Ofcourse. Most people in the business have worked there for 10+ years, they all progress and move up. They said there is loads of chance for progression, learning new skills, training and to explore different departments and if you want to switch departments in the future you can. It’s 2 days in office and 3 days wfh. Everything about it was just perfect to me.

I know 100% I have not got the job. They were interviewing more candidates and although not terrible, my answers in the interview were not great and apart from a part time job at uni I have no work experience.

my issue now is I already feel so upset that I won’t get it. I only went to the interview purely for the experience and practice for the future. I knew I’d never secure a job like that and I was ok with it. I thought it would give me the motivation to get back to work. Well it Definitley did! Only problem is I know when I get the official ‘unsuccessful’ message I am going to be absolutely devastated.

I have never in my life found something that really interests me. I have wanted to get back to work but have no idea what I want to do. I’ve felt so stuck and thought of career changes but wasn’t sure in what. This company has interested me so much. It’s something I never would’ve looked into before or considered. Equally, it’s not a common role/company that you’d find.

the company didn’t even post the vacancy, they went directly through an agent and the recruiter contacted me. It’s not something I’d find again when looking on job boards etc. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, it would change my life and my children’s lives! It would mean I could move us into a better home, I could push myself more and grow and learn new skills etc.

im not sure what I want out of this thread but I don’t know what I will do about the rejection. I’m going to feel heartbroken and so upset. I always tell myself ‘everything happens for a reason’ and that’s all I can think that’s positive. I am now considering going into hr, doing the CIPD level 3. It’s the only other thing that interests me but even that will never get me a role like this.

any advice?

No advice OP but you never know! Good luck

If it's a big company there are likely to be more vacancies coming up. If you're not successful this time let the recruitment consultant know how much you want to work there and you want to be forward for other admin roles.

I'm not sure it's healthy to fixate on this one job in this one company, and to think of it as being the only job that could make you happy. I think you could frame this slightly differently, as you having had your eyes opened to some of the great opportunities that are out there.

Good luck OP.

Thank you all. I think I am just fixating on this as I don’t have much work experience and it’s a job that would really change mine and dc’s lives.

I know there are plenty of admin jobs out there but I would love to work in a company that offers room for growth and progression. I’m not sure how to find such companies.

im going to take the positive out of this situation which is that I have had my eyes opened and been motivated

Ask for feedback from the interview- directly from the company if possible, and make sure you let them know that the company ethos really impressed you, and you would be very interested in any future similar opportunities, and will take the feedback on board, if unsuccessful

Don't hesitate to send a follow up email to thank them and reiterate how interested you are.

I heard of one company that only gave jobs to people who follow up after interview, no idea if it's true but it can't hurt.

Whoa girl!

You have to stay positive when job hunting or you'll go crazy.

So much negative self talk in your post.

You will cope. You will have learned. You will have been inspired.

Keep calm as you sound so wound up I worry you'll send some terrible email.to the recruiter.

I feel for you.

Aww good luck have fingered crossed for you!
if you don’t get it, ask if they any voluntary or work or work experience schemes? Even if you could go in for a week it may help you get real clarity on next steps and they may help you
do they take on temps through any agencies? Sign up with those agencies if so!

its brilliant that it’s given you so much motivation and drive so that’s a huge positive from the interview even if you don’t get the job xx

Hello everyone, little update!

I have been invited for a final stage interview tomorrow morning. Their feedback: lovely personality, answered the questions well, had clearly done her research.

now I’m very nervous for tomorrow as I will be interviewed by a panel of 4. The same 3 from last time but now with a more senior manager too. I’m expecting that they are going to ask more difficult in depth questions. The last interview they even randomly tested me and asked me questions that were not planned - nor could I have planned for them as they were so random!

they sent me an shl verbal AND numerical test yesterday that had to be done TODAY. I have not done a test in years, didn’t know what to expect and I am absolutely rubbish with anything that involves numbers. I watched some YouTube videos and tiktok videos to prepare but the actual test was completely different to the practice on YouTube etc!

the verbal test I think went ‘ok’ however I completely failed the numerical test. I had 16 questions to answer in 18 minutes. I would be provided with a chart of data (for example) and a question relating to it. It required a calculator but I have never done something so hard. I really struggle with maths and only got through 4 questions before I ran out of time (100% sure the 4 answers were wrong too!).

I even took screenshots to show my partner who is much more academic than I am and he spent 16 minutes on 1 question and STILL couldn’t work out the answer.

im now 1000% positive there’s no chance of getting the job. Has anyone done a test like this? I understand they might want to see how I understand data etc as I will be inputting some data into excel, however I don’t really understand why I needed to do a numerical test to that standard for an admin role?

will I not get the job because of my results? There was nothing I could’ve done, even dp was annoyed that he couldn’t work it out so I know I couldn’t have done any better.

I’d set aside the tests for now and just prep hard for the final stage interview - which is a great achievement btw. If during the interview the tests are mentioned just be absolutely truthful, you didn’t know what to expect but did your best etc Best of luck OP!

Best of luck. What's for us, won't pass us.

How did it go OP?

Thanks everyone!

the interview today was HORRID.

a more senior manager was also present and he absolutely hated me. He kept firing questions at me, wasn’t happy with my answers at all and at some points actually cut me off and was quite rude. Very blunt.

considering it was An admin role I’m unsure why maths was very important? He was unhappy that I hadn’t studied maths after GCSE???

i wanted the ground to swallow me up and safe to say I won’t be getting the job lol

You said this last time.

Likely the senior manager wanted to see how you perform under pressure and deal with confrontation.

The test results will be one factor they take into account.

Try not to indulge this black and white fatalistic thinking. It doesn't serve you well.

I had an awful second interview a few years ago, had to give a presentation and produce a piece of work. The chief cheese bombarded me with questions it was so hard to keep up with him.

I got offered the job.

Good luck op.

I know I can be a bit of a Debbie-downer and criticise myself a lot. But honestly this interview went terribly.

the panel of 3 who had interviewed me previously were actually lovely today, I think they like me especially one lady. As the senior manager was practically ‘interrogating’ me she kept giving me little hints and saying words to trigger me to give the right response.

if it’s down to the main man though, then I’m definitley not getting the job. Plus I have barely any prior work experience so I was thinking hard to relate questions back to my previous work. At one point I actually had no idea what to reply and ended up apologising and saying I don’t know what to say! How embarrassing.

the senior manager asked me very deep and specific questions on the topic of pollution/global warming, how I would handle it if I was a politician, what’s steps I would implement. I messed up so many questions he visibly got annoyed with me and was actually rude at one stage and told me he didn’t want to hear what I was talking about as it wasn’t relevant.

I walked out wishing the ground had swallowed me up lol.

nevertheless they said they will provide me with feedback in 2 weeks which will be good for future interviews

Before you get told you haven't got it look at what other jobs are available in the company.
Like you say you have no experience so you will need to start somewhere, apply for other jobs there and see how the company feels especially if you find them inspiring. Or go back to the recruiter and say you really liked the company can they find anything else going on there for you?

Use a possible rejection to feel inspired to look for more 😀

OP, you are soooo negative about yourself. I need you to love yourself more than this!!

I once had an interview that I left in tears - literally walking through the town centre sobbing. So embarrassing. The two interviewers, who were head of the department I was applying for a position within, kept giving each other looks after I answered each question that seemed to say "wtf is she on about". They seemed like they thought everything I was saying was total rubbish. I was so absolutely sure I didn't have the job.

Well I didn't get the job, but they instead offered me the position above the one I applied for. I was punching above my weight on paper for the one I applied for in terms of qualifications etc, I was totally under qualified for the job they gave me. But they said they were very impressed by my interview.

The two people who seemed to hate me in the interview turned out to be perfectly lovely. No idea why they were so odd during my interview, I suppose they just weren't used to interviewing people.

When the interviewer asked about not having GCSE maths, he was probably just giving you a chance to defend what he saw as a weakness in your application. After all, if not having GCSE maths was a barrier to the job you wouldn't have been put forward by the recruiter and given two interviews!

Don't give up hope. I think sometimes senior management deliberately push people in interviews so they can see how you handle stress.

As long as you didn't get angry or burst into tears there is hope.

Unless the business has something to do with the environment that question seems a bit strange for an administrative position.

Sorry, misread - it's post-gcse maths that he was unhappy about you not having. I still really wouldn't worry.

He could just be the resident bellend, and everyone else at the company will judge his opinions accordingly.

Thank you all for your encouragement.

I know there’s still a possibility, I just think it went terribly along with the failed test.

its a shipping company that have vessels, so I guess maybe that it why the pollution topic came up. Regardless, I’m just a basic administrator and the role is just admin duties to ensure a ship gets from A to B. Updating schedules, bookings etc. so I’m still quite unsure why he went into detail regarding pollution control and what I would do etc etc.

I also ended up mentioning that I am a ‘people pleaser’… omg he cut me off instantly and very bluntly told me that this role is not about pleasing people and that there will be a lot of people I make unhappy. it was a very intense moment, and I hadn’t communicated what I meant very well. I meant that I find it hard to say no sometimes, that if I’m presented with a task I like to get it done if I’m asked to do something. At that point I was sure I’ve lost the job.

I guess I will await the feedback in 2 weeks and take on board any criticism I get

OP, you've got to get over your imposter syndrome. I think you'll get this job and within a few months the shiny shiny will wear off and you'll realise the whole place is a fuck up, teetering like a house of cards.

I had to go back to employment after running my own business since I was 20 when I was 32. At first I was like you, overawed and rolling over to show my belly. I've now worked for a FTSE company, a company with 8000 employees and a goverment body and they are all STUPID. Incompetent management, lazy stupid colleagues, no systems, profligate wasteful spending on some things then stingy on vital things. I'm bored of it now, my company was far better run. (My exDH stole it from me btw, I didn't lose it through idiocy..well, marriage to him maybe but not business nouse)

Yes I agree, I don’t think you’ll have been successful this time, but only because of your lack of confidence.

OP I know you have your heart set on the job but the nicest offices in the world don’t make a healthy working environment, it is the management and the people around you that do that.

Keep an open mind and apply for plenty of other jobs.

I love your stance @Everycompanyisafuckup 😄.

OP, I actually think the company sounds worse and worse the more you post - the questions and tests don't really sound appropriate for an Admin job at all. And why will it take them two weeks to give you feedback?

At the stage, you just need to get back into the workplace, then you can try to find the prefect role. Are you applying for other roles in the meantime?