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?

If they interviewed you you must have been
'Good enough' they just chose someone else but the recruiter should be able to help you improve your interview technique and can find other rules - stay in touch with the recruiter. And it might mean you take on a similar job at a less amazing company in the meantime to get a bank of experiences to reflect on in interviews. Keep a diary of things that happen at work and how you deal with them so that you have examples to give

Tbh if they can get you unto operating vessels in 6mo that sounds valuable for a cv and, without knowing the industry mind, like a career that's going places.

BUT.

They are probably toxic. They will probably try to weasel out of promoting you in 6mo so they dont have to hire another admin. They might well train you but then drag their heels about rewarding you appropriately. You need to be confident, savvy and hard in order to capitalise on that opportunity imo. Confidence you can fake it til you make it OP. You've gad the heads up on what these shiny companies will get up to so will be wary, can you put some cast iron knickers on and get it done 💪

I dont think any part of their application process is unusual, and if you are so weak at maths, I suggest you spend some time studying it now to pull your abilities up.

I think you should be positive, getting to what sounds like the last stage at the moment is very good.

Now you've seen a company you like then focus on seeing how you can improve your chances of getting a job there if you don't get this one.

Follow up with a friendly email today, just thanking them for their time etc.

I will be honest and say they told me within 6-12 months they will want to train the candidate up to be the ‘vessel operator’. So maybe they wanted to see how I would handle being under pressure in the interview, if I’m going to have a more intense role in the future

however, the role of the vessel operator is to directly control the vessel (from a virtual perspective) ensuring it gets from point A to B. Speaking with the captain of the ship and plan the voyage…

So let me see if I have this correct. You go in as a bog standard admin assistant and within a year you're expected to be able to handle complex maritime logistics.

I did a quick google 'ship's operator' and here's what it says. Among other things you need a suitable maritime qualification (whatever that is)

https://www.alchemygts.com/Ships-Operator-jobs

https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/student/en/preu/world-of-work/occupation/occupation-detail.Ship%20Operator-80945.html

Second one is from Singapore but still informative

If I were you and getting a third interview I'd be asking a LOT more questions about what this ship operator business entails and how you can be trained up in a year and how they think going from admin asssistant to maritime operations works. But if I were you and after that second interview I'd be swerving it so damned fast you'd see the smoke, esp for £ 25k.

Oh, and another thought. That job description says nothing about the training for ship's operator and the expectation that you'd move onto that role. So you've interviewed thinking it's one thing and they look like they're interviewing thinking it's another (that you might not even want to do).

Not surprising. I once interviewed for Unilever, of all places, and it was the worst drawn up job description I've ever seen.

Similar… a few of the well known, respected companies (not naming any names!) treat their employees badly or can do.

Years ago I heard of a job at Bourjois which was near where I lived. Friend had worked there and said it was horrid, timed breaks for everything (toilet etc) and said she wouldn’t return.

Now, if I’m going for a job in a company I research y them on Glassdoor and hopefully know of someone working there.

With respect OP, it’s good you’re working part time in an admin role but this one it seems like they’ll want you to step up considerably. What are they like around childcare hours if you need that?

With respect OP, it’s good you’re working part time in an admin role but this one it seems like they’ll want you to step up considerably. What are they like around childcare hours if you need that?

That's another issue. And do you actually WANT a job with a lot of pressure and responsibility?

Saw this role and thought of you 😊.

jobs.babcockinternational.com/Babcock/job/Newham%2C-London-Contract-Support-Coordinator-E6-7FF/990369301/

Little update!

recruiter asked me how the interview went, I told her not very well and asked about the maths situation. She told me not to be downhearted as maths wasn’t a requirement for the role.

she has just sent me a message now telling me there will be a bit of a wait for the results but she had some positive feedback after my interview to say the managers were impressed…

I am extremely confused

My husband once thought he had failed the Excel test, in fact he had got further than anyone else ever had @Mysticaltay

We're all rooting for you 😀

It sounds like a really unfair interview.

4 people interviewing one person for a relatively junior role isn't right. Total overkill and unlikely to bring out the best in any candidate.

Fingers crossed the news is positive!

I wouldn't want someone earning £25,000 controlling a corporate asset like a commercial ship. Thats not the sort of skill where you can wing it.

they're truly bonkers.

Yeah, take heed of warnings on the thread OP if offered, go in with your eyes wide open. All that glitters etc. They sound a bit gaslighty to me.

Either way, it doesn't sound like it'll be too long before you're offered something, somewhere. There will be other opportunities out there - this one found you and a recruiter may well find you another!

As an aside, anyone else want @Everycompanyisafuckup to start another business and we'll all go work for her 😂

DF was in the Merchant Navy on oil tankers. There's a hell of a lot more to logistics than 'ok, this goes here and this goes there and you leave on Tuesday.' As you say, you don't wing it, there's lives and millions of pounds in assets at risk. This company sounds like they have no idea what they want.

I wouldn't do it, OP. Seriously.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you. 💐💐💐

Fingers crossed!

Hahahahaaaa

Look out, Bezos 😈

Just done an interview. Exact role title, I am pretty experienced in the field. They neglected to mention international travel, not a problem but couldve done with knowing, and then seemed to interview for a completely different role. I had to answer a question with 'I've never done that.' As I really haven't! One of us doesn't understand what this job entails and given I've actually been employed to do it every day for the last 4yrs I don't think its me!

The commentary on the follow on role in 6-12 months has made me laugh. I don't think anyone is expecting the OP to sail freight ships across the world in 6 months time. The role is operations assistant and the follow up role is operations manager. Managing the administrative operations of the ships and the team of operations assistants. E.g. Ship ABC needs these 7 documents to be submitted before it leaves port. Customs filings to be completed etc etc.

Is it an American company? I only ask because my ex had a couple of interviews with one once and they had the most bizarre interviewing protocol. It was almost as if they were doing random stuff to see how he dealt with it. For example one member of staff came in pretending to be getting attacked by a giant cuddly snake and they wanted to see how he reacted. I wonder if the second interview was something like that because they knew you’d come across difficult people

Hi OP! I feel your pain on looking for a job. I hate interviews. Can I suggest that you look into taking up volunteer roles for NGOs while looking for a job? It's a great way to give your CV a boost.

Hi everyone, back again with a little update and rant!

so after the 3rd interview I was told I’d receive feedback in 2 weeks. The previous interviews I got feedback in less than 1 week but this one would take longer as they had more interviews to conduct after me and the managers were going away on a business trip the following week.

at 13 days I asked the recruiter if she had heard anything yet and she told me not yet, the hr lady was out of office and was due back that day. I then followed up with another message on the Thursday (16 days after interview) asking if we’d get any feedback before the end of the week. I was told the hr lady had a family emergency and would be out of the office for the rest of that week. Recruiter told me she’d let me know as soon as she hears, I waited another week (was now 23 days post interview) and asked if there was any news and recruiter told me no but she was hoping for some that day.

it’s now exactly 4 weeks tomorrow since the 3rd interview and I still haven’t heard anything. I mean clearly I haven’t got the job, but I just really wanted the feedback to find out where I had gone wrong etc? I don’t want to keep hassling the recruiter as she said she’d let me know as soon as she hears anything, but I don’t understand what is taking so long?

opinions?