Job vacancies on hold?

[Bellavida99]

I’ve applied for 5 jobs in the last month. 2 have come back saying the job has now been put on hold and they’ll get back in touch if it is readvertised. Is this normal? Is it a nice way of saying I’ve been unsuccessful? One was via a recruiter so I thought might be a fake job to get my details but the other is a council job. I thought this seemed a bit odd.

We’ve had an instant recruitment freeze in the past where I work.

Local authority - yes this a common. Sometimes they do go ahead later, other times the job is deleted. Balancing budgets is impossible and most jobs now are only prioritised if in social care.

Totally common this time of year for recruitment freezes in the public sector. Once the new finance year starts and there's more money in the pot they normally start recruiting again.

Thanks. That makes sense I guess although it would be April before they get someone in post. I’m not desperate for a new job maybe I should wait a couple of months and then start looking

I don't want to burst your bubble, but we'd be projecting overspend by May. "Balancing the budget" is a fictional activity. It doesn't mean we won't recruit, or can't recruit. But it doesn't mean we will either. The majority of local authorities who aren't already bankrupt have been playing this game for years now.