Another job rejection (public sector)

[toxicjobrec]

Just a moan, please mumsnet!

I exited a terrible job in April and took sick leave to recover from the fallout - and recently wrote about it here. I have always worked in the charity sector. Since my exit n that time, I dusted myself off, updated my CV, and got out there. since that time I've had:

• An interview with a household name charity that cancelled the day before because they had to "review their finances". This led to that particular role being pulled entirely
• roughly 15 rejections in response to CV and cover letter. I've asked for feedback and have never had anything besides 'high volume of applications, ' etc., aka the standard line
• loads of ghost applications!
• I've come down to the final 2 candidates on two occasions post interview with nothing but positive feedback. Yesterday, after going back and forth with recruiters about consultancy work and being asked to provide references to move things along, I was told I had been pipped to the post over a technical skill the other candidate had but they 'loved' me - argh. This all came one month after originally being approached, so it's taken a long time to hear a no!

I'm exploring other avenues, including a complete career change, but this charity exp has left such a nasty taste, and I'm feeling furious right now. I'm lucky to have savings/a partner who earns well, etc, but it's so demoralising. I also think I've fallen out of love with this sector, although I know they're struggling and things are tough out there for everyone. i'm struggling to summon up the enthusiasm for yet another job that expects a "high volume of applications" after so many knokbacks.

Off for a big, angry bike ride(!), but would love to hear from others who have come out the other side. I'm scared I'm getting deskilled and losing confidence, despite signing up to short courses and staying busy with my commitments outside of a proper job...

thanks for reading!

It's really tough.

I was on a temp promotion for years, as were most people in my organisation. We were all led to believe it was temporary on paper due to the way the recruitment process works but none of us thought our jobs were at risk. Then about a year ago, suddenly they were all ended with very little warning and I'm back at a grade I thought I'd left behind a long time ago.

The job market is dreadful. I've applied for so many jobs, some which I'm overqualified for, many which I meet all the criteria for. I've had multiple interviews. I've even passed a few, but not got the top score so I'm on several reserve lists. It's soul-destroying.

Perhaps sign up for an Agency who place staff in the sector you want to work

@AntiBullshit I have done. Plus, I'm in touch with a lot of specialist recruiters.

It's really not that simple.

I recently had a conversation with our Head of HR who was offering appointments to the people affected by the recent budget cuts. This is a huge organisation with 7000 staff. She said I'm doing everything right and I absolutely should be a higher grade, and that she'd been following my particular case for a while (my previous role was quite high profile within the organisation so most people know my face and name). The only advice she could give me was to give it a year and hopefully things would get better.

I agree - it's not as easy as saying just look elsewhere.

Can I ask whether you're also public sector? It does seem particularly hard out there at present.

Yes I am and I do want to stay in the public sector as I have disabilities. I'm happy to accept lower pay and more limited opportunities in exchange for reasonable accommodations which the public sector has been accepting of. I was being given the support I needed to flourish in the workplace and now I'm back to square one, but I feel I'm better off staying, knowing I CAN succeed where I am, rather than risk going back to the private sector and end up failing through lack of accommodations.

What sort of public sector jobs are you looking at?

Tell me about it! I left my job in Oct after 17 years working for a supermarket. Got on well with the various managers and they appreciated my flexibility and praises from customers. Then the new store manager came in May, He started to bully many of us and colleagues left. I was no 8 in 4.5 months. I felt sorry for the colleagues in their late 50s - retirement age (I’m 44) as nowhere for them to look for work as need loads of IT experience, which I have. I was crying so much that I vomited.

I have been applying for jobs. Most ghosted me. Had about 22-25 interviews- online and in person. I remember going to an assessment morning for a company. The requirement was 2 years of customer service experience. The assessments were done in groups of 12 - obviously interviewed and assessed individually. We were just talking about our own experiences. One guy said he only had 6 months experience. I didn’t get a job, Then about 2 months later, I drove past the place and saw the guy outside wearing the company’s lanyard. It was him as he had a very distinctive coat. I was upset. Why did you give someone who didn’t hit the criteria an interview, let alone a job??

Often saw the same jobs advertised again 2-3 months. I thought to myself, you are choosing the wrong person/people who can’t hack the work. Jobs are few n far between

I get fed up with the generic rejection emails as I needed to know what went wrong, what answers were deemed weak etc? If I had been given that information, I would have brushed up on better examples etc. All it takes is 2-3 lines! How was I supposed to know what was wrong/weak? Every subsequent interview, it was blind leading the blind.

Then I found this admin officer job that looked very interesting at MoJ to work for HM Courts and Tribunal Services. I applied for it and got an interview. I did my research by looking through success profiles and thought of examples (if not had one already) to each of the qualities.

I heard I was successful on Thursday and given a job offer. Submitted the online form about an hour later. No indication of start date yet. Plus unsure if holiday- which parents paid for will go ahead in 5 weeks time. If not heard of a start date in 2 weeks time, I will contact them.

Looking forward to this opportunity. I know that it’s 16 mile journey each way- 45-50 minutes too. It will be a fresh start and this will make me more of a better person.

I had serious doubts that I would never get any job.

Sorry for the long post!

@Auburngal congratulations on your new job and fresh start! I'm so sad to read about your experience - especially after you gave so many years. Sadly toxic behaviour in work - specifically around management and recruitment - seems to be prevalent. Especially right now. Sometimes I wonder if it's AI doing all the sifting or simply not enough funding anywhere for people to really consider what the experience is like for the person applying.

I have also noticed jobs being relisted after submitting (imo) a perfectly good application only to not make it through the initial shortlist. And we all know about roles going to internal candidates because of the need to list all roles on a public platform - maddening.

I know someone who is a Director in Business Restructuring. She says businesses are cutting back and there are limited jobs available. It is pretty dire. So you are not alone. Keep going and eventually you will get there. Meanwhile enjoy your time and be kind to yourself.

I am in the public sector in finance. When I applied for my job I was one of two applicants five years ago. A recent similar level job attracted 40 applications. It went to someone overqualified for the role. It's fairly low paid, nothing special.

@toxicjobrec Thanks for that.
I reckon AI is making companies recruiting the wrong people. It does not understand transferrable skills. It would be interesting to see how many resignations have been made on employees that were recruited since AI was introduced and before. If the former has a bigger %, employers should seriously consider scrapping AI scanning of CVs. Then let humans read them. The humans may consider a couple of maybes and interview them. These candidates may turn out to be one of the better interviewees.

You have to keep going OP. A very good friend of mine took over a year to land a good job in a charity after a bit of time out. The market is hard. She was very well qualified. Fixed term are usually easier and a good way in. You’ll get there!!

I posted this elsewhere today but there's a lot of incidence where AI is filtering out more female applicants, because data is all about how men do better statistically based on their salary etc rather than recognising women haven't been in workplaces as long and usually have a lower wage. You have to run your cv through AI and ask it to amend it based on the individual jobs so that it recognises it at the firm you are applying for. It sounds crazy (and even more bizarre when you see what it changes things to!) but a lot of the ghost jobs you are experiencing will be because AI filters your CV out for some small irregularity it doesn't value. I mistakenly put that I had raised a child which is a big no no! I thought I was explaining the gap in my CV...too human.
Annoyingly the rehire rate is rising at these companies, because you can't filter for people through AI and often it's people gaming the system rather than really wanting the job or having experience. Let's face it, if you've been in work for 20 years you won't have updated your CV to AI low standards!

I feel people don't know about any of this until they find themselves applying for jobs, which is quite a different scenario now to even 5 years ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002gqfp

This was interesting - 40% increase in re-hiring.

I'm in charity sector. I took 3 months off and went back in - applied for 4 jobs, had 3 interviews, and got 1 offer. I am in a fairly specialised area though.

While I was off I did some work with Brave Starts - I cannot recommend them highly enough. They have lots of different workshops and there's loads of networking involved - it made me feel much less lonely and boosted my confidence. There was a CV and cover letter session and you will know this but they basically advised pulling out key words and mirroring the language as it reads cleaner and boosts any AI shortlisting. They also said do not apply via Linked In, it is a cess pit, pick up the phone and talk direct to organisations you want to work for. So if there's a job opening, you could call before applying to discuss the role.

Recruiters talk a lot of bullshit, I went and applied direct for all of the roles - except for one where lo and behold they 'put the role on hold'. Was pleased to tell him I'd got a job when he eventually came back to me.

Re. interviews, I always prepare to the nth degree for the question why do you want to work for us. I've recently been involved interviewing and I'd say the candidates that stand out more have exemplary attitude, led by values. Actually that's seemed to be liked more than experience and I thought some of them had weak answers on some points, but I am highly critical lol. Things that universally never came across well were any sort of negative attitude about their current role.

It's really tough though, I've seen entry level roles in some areas having like 250 applicants.

Brave Starts also did a session on updating your Linked In profile, I found that quite helpful roles.

Since the imposition of the job tax employers have been freezing recruitment and cutting jobs. Thanks Rachel. How is that suppposed to promote growth in the economy? One day you will know the feeling of being cut loose.

@OrangeZebraStripes thanks for the rec - I have never heard of Brave Starts but will check them out.

i’m definitely tired of being yanked around by sector recruiters. I know it’s a tough job, but the number of dead-ends and times where they haven’t returned a call or a simple enquiry whilst I’ve been off has been irritating to put it mildly.

also growing increasingly cynical about LinkedIn given that so many of my favourite female influencers are being silenced on it. But that’s a rant for another thread.