Why are interviewers so rude?

[3cav3]

Recently my wife has been going to interviews as her job working for a large hotel chain( budget that begins with T) isn't working out, think of their reputation and they treat their staff worse.

What's really frustrating is they say at the end of the interview that they will definitely let her know by a certain day wether she's been successful or not, but they simply don't bother. Often she has to rearrange her work schedule to go on the specific day that they say interviews are taking place, prepare and travel, yet they seem to be saying that their time is important yet my wifes is not! Starting to get really fed up with their attitude.
Another things thats really annoying is when they ask why she's leaving her current job. The truth is because her current employer is treating her worse than something you would scrape off your shoe, and the 4th manager that they've had in 7months there is a letchy pervert, yet she's not allowed to say that if she wants a chance at a new job. The hotel seems to change their staff like an average person changes their socks, so I think that says it all.
Rant over.

[Robsey]

I think the fact that they have a very fast staff rotation says it all.

Sadly they are probably only paying minimum wage, and so staff are considered to be worth no more than a burger flipper at MacDonalds.

Can your wife not try looking at a better chain of hotels?
Although I am sure that they all behave in a similar way.

Sadly a lot of these companies operate like an American style of employer - it is all about the customer, and the staff are merely an expendable commodity.

My wife was a bus driver between 1998 and 2001. When her health crashed and burned, they flipped her off because she couldn't fulfil her contracted hours due to an undiagnosed illness.

I don't want to jump on the pro-women's band wagon, but a lot of female staff are still considered in a poor light, despite all this equality and inclusivity blah de blah that employers chunner on about.

[3cav3]

To be totally honest she's been totally put off working for hotels in general after this firms behaviour. Once she's found a new job we will look into a constructive dismissal case.She has to start at 6.45 am and sometimes has to go through to 11pm, all on minimum wage. Often running the hotel on her own so really through and through a total piss take. Often no one turns up to take over from her at the end of her shift because they operate on no staff basis. Also on her days off they keep chasing her to come in to work to the extent she turns her mobile off out of work to get some peace.
At the moment she's applying mainly for general receptionist jobs, she doesn't mind that she hasn't got accepted yet,but just like me thinks it down right rude for them not to give her the courtesy of saying either way if she was successful or not.

[ilovedmymantas]

I agree. It's not only rude it's demoralising, an email or text costs almost nothing compared to the days of paper, ink, envelope and postage.
It only takes seconds to send a "sorry your application was unsuccessful" template letter. If these companies interviewers can't be sincere then perhaps it's not really a company your wife would be happy in. It's to her credit that she's getting to interview stage, many don't, so that's encouraging.

Her current employer sounds horrendous and worthy of an undercover tv programme! Working under these conditions can't be good for mental or physical health, I hope the UK passes the same law as Australia where employers can't contact employees out of work hours.
Hopefully she'll find the "right fit" soon.

[3cav3]

Thankyou for agreeing with me, I was beginning to think I was being unreasonable to expect interviewers to do what they say they will.

All I ever seem to hear is the uk moaning that they can't get workers, well she's someone who is trying very hard to get work, yet apart from her crappy job she doesn't seem able to. She's never applying for jobs out of her league, always does her research, and has got all the required qualifications and experience. I wish someone would tell us where the jobs that cant be filled are. She's prepared to travel a reasonable distance, in her last job she spent over 2hours a day and a got through a tank of diesel a week for her commute. Her age is late 30s so would of thought that was an ideal age, plenty of life experience, very unlikely to have anymore children so won't need to have maternity leave, yet still another 30 years from retirement.

She tried even applying to supermarkets, but some of the application forms you'd honestly think the person who set them had been out on a weekend bender of hard drugs first, particularly the Asda form. Also they seem to often want her to start at 5.30 am and go through to any time up to 11.30 pm, with family life and child care commitments this isn't always possible and I also feel shouldn't be asked from a job that is paying around minimum wage.

To see if it was something she was doing wrong,( for my job I'm a manager, plus head hydraulic fitter/ engineer. I over see the day to day running of a busy workshop, plus when the boss isn't there I take over the rest of the firm,) i applied for several jobs and I did even worse than she was, not even one interview invite. I've been in my current job for nearly 25 years so can't be that bad. I've had the P.R department of the big London law firm that my brother works for produce my wifes C.V and yet nothing is good enough, constant rejection is bad enough but when the interviewer can't even be bothered to let my wife know she's been rejected is even worse.

[Robsey]

I work for the NHS, in quite a high position in my department.
We are recruiting for relatively low paid admins for the department (NHS Agenda for Change Band 2's and 3's).
Sorry, not within reasonable travelling distance for your wife.

A close friend has to screen the applications.
There were 125 applicants for a recent post.
123 of them were people from outside the UK (Africa and India), applying for jobs before seeking to move to the UK - if successful, and if sponsorship was offered.
They all have the same generic CV and quote qualifications and grades that do not exist.

It is a minefield, flooded with endless dross.
A bit like the emploment version of spam-bots.

------------------------------

Has your wife thought of a local public sector job?
There are lots of admin posts at various levels that she could potentially fulfil quite easily.

Our last two admins, who are both very good, were ex-supermarket check-out girls. (One is a band 2, and one a band 3).
Both loving their jobs, and the team spirit.

Just a thought for your wife to look at something more secure and protected from "couldn't give a toss" hotel group bosses.

[3cav3]

She has applied for various NHS type jobs, most even though she applied on the day they appeared she had an email back stating that they'd already had too many applicants, so they wernt accepting anymore. She's had a few interview invites, so far they've either been scheduled on a day that she's working and neither her employer or the interviewer is willing to change the time slot. On the ones she's managed to get to the interview its become apparent quite quickly that they are either looking for a 16 year old that they can legally pay less or its being given internally. Some she goes to they probably are jobs that she could get but isn't successful again often they don't bother getting back in touch. She's been given some professional interview coaching by my brothers father in law. Until he retired last year that was one of his main jobs.
A friend of mines wife is manager at the local hotel, again budget but begins with the letter P , she could get my wife a part time job tomorrow but her advice to anyone she knows is dont, as they treat staff as badly as where my wife works, and she would have to work some night shifts at £11 an hour!(11pm to7am)
My wife is a fully qualified Teaching assistant, particularly in the SEN sector. Locally by us the only School jobs that turn up are so low hours that she would spend almost as much in travel as she would earn. Also she would be on way less than minimum wage as they make deductions for all the school holidays. In her previous job even after giving up half her lunch break she was on just over £200 for 5 days a week full time.
We are desperately looking for a full time job for her as since Covid our neighbours putting it mildly have turned to scum, they were never the best in the first place, but with house prices it was the best we could afford. If she gets a full time job then the mortgage company combined with my wage and the £100k collateral weve got in this place,will give us enough to move into a much better street. All she needs is 30+ hours at minimum wage, you wouldn't of thought it was so much to ask. As stated before though the interviewers arrogance on top of the struggle makes us feel like giving up.

[cavalier1990]

I remember when I came out of college / uni looking for work experience, even something that got me somewhere near to my sort of chosen field, at that time it was electrical/electronic engineering but being in Scotland they were few and far between and if by luck you did get an interview the interviewers as you said were cheeky / cocky idiots, usually a good bit younger than myself as well. I then started to think do I really want to work in this kind of environment, are these people all like this or are they just putting on a sort of "challenging" interview demeanour to test you. I wasn't sure but either way it just didn't work for me. I did end up doing work for a small company "dawn sarrf" as us northernern say (!) for just over a Year, but ended up kind of gravitating towards IT, packed that job in, done some more college IT stuff back home and ended up getting my foot on the ladder here at a local uni doing some IT systems work, the rest as they say is history. Well worth looking at public/private institutions with an investors in people programme, that's a good way to get into somewhere for some experience.

Hope your missus gets some luck trying to get something, it's a really challenging task trying to land a decent role sometimes, but best way to look at it as each one that falls through is getting you closer to the one you were meant to do.

[3cav3]

We chased them up this morning, they claimed that they had rung multiple times since Thursday, I said Bulls%$t! Both phone lines have 24 hr answer phones on them, plus the phone records show no call has been received, yet her current job doesn't find it hard to get through. When asked for feedback they stated that one of the reasons my wife didn't get it was that she said she was ideally looking for a full time job, and they wanted to give partime hours. The job was clearly advertised as full time and my wife said during the interview that she said ideally she wanted full time but was willing to be flexible around their requirements.
She applied for another job this morning and less than ten minutes later the firm emailed her back to say she wasn't suitable, yet when I read through the advert she could put a tick next to every requirement. Kind of makes you want to give up life! What are you supposed to do to get work?!?
In the past she's tried going down the retraining route, but once she's gained the requested qualifications then the employers say "you haven't got experience!"

[vexorg]

I've never been in a big firm or chain, generally always smaller companies that specialise in area I work in. So when I interview the person is as important as the skills due to the small team and need to know they can work and get along with things.

Hotels, especially london, seems to just hire rude uncaring staff. Usually I choose holiday inn now, and their reception team do seem a bit happier and appear to like their job. Premier inn not so much, though a few have moved to automated check in, so you can see why they are not happy, and travellodge, I just avoid.

[3cav3]

Well its now got to the point that my wife can't even get interviews at the moment. She's OK with working at minimum wage, and never goes for jobs that are above her. She's had professional interview training, yet just cant get a job anywhere. He current one is making her very miserable by the way in which she's getting treated, plus the hours are very eractic, one week she gets 8 hours, the next week they are demanding over 30, they've even tried to get her to work until nearly midnight then want her back in the next morningat 6.45, (on that occasion the were told exactly where to go) and I'm sorry no matter what they say you shouldn't have to manage a hotel on your own upto 11pm for £10.42 an hour! Plus if you do over 6 hours you are supposed to be allowed an uninterrupted 20 minute break by law, if you're the only member of staff in a place that never closes, how does that work? Shes lost count of many times her food has gone cold because the second its ready the world and their wife decides to come to reception.
As you can probably understand we are getting very disheartened. How many rejections can you take before throwing in the towell? Shes tried the retraining route before, but then what happens is employers say you've got no experience, so next! The government bleets on all the time about doleys, well how about putting schemes in place for people like my wife who genuinely wants a real job, rather than one thats partime and treats her like crap. Last month she took home just over £600, how are you supposed to pay a mortgage, run her car and live with all the coststhat exist today? I used to get more than that as a teenage trainee back in 1999!

[Robsey]

I think all "zero-hour" contracts should be banned.

My colleague at work lives alone with a mortgage, and was previously a care agency worker on zero-hours.
She reported a similar line of despair at the erratic hours and very poor wages.

I can only hope that your wife gets a lucky break.
And soon.

[3cav3]

I think all "zero-hour" contracts should be banned.

My colleague at work lives alone with a mortgage, and was previously a care agency worker on zero-hours.
She reported a similar line of despair at the erratic hours and very poor wages.

I can only hope that your wife gets a lucky break.
And soon.

I sincerely hope she does, its so demoralising to her to keep trying, yet always getting knocked back.

The stupid thing is that she's actually got a 16 hour a week contract, this however seems to mean nothing to them. Dont worry my brother has already drawn up a legal case against them. However from a future employment point of view our hands are tied until she actually gets another job, ( a future employer is likely to see her as a trouble maker, which she is not)but hopefully then we should be entitled to a reasonable amount of compensation. Its not actually the money its the principle, you can't treat people the way they do.

Until she got work there I used often stay at them when moving around the country, however I will no longer give them any business after the way they seem to treat all their staff.

[3cav3]

After literally another 80 odd applications she's finally secured 2 interviews next week. Fingers crossed as she's beginning to give up hope. Youd never of thought it would be so hard to obtain a minimum wage job.

[Robsey]

I have my fingers and toes crossed for her.
It makes walking look a bit odd and I have only fell over twice.

I didn't think there would have been 80 jobs available for her to apply to.
I hope we hear some good news next week.
You both need the mental, financial, and emotional relief of a positive outcome.

[3cav3]

I have my fingers and toes crossed for her.
It makes walking look a bit odd and I have only fell over twice.

I didn't think there would have been 80 jobs available for her to apply to.
I hope we hear some good news next week.
You both need the mental, financial, and emotional relief of a positive outcome.

Thankyou, both of us are getting very disheartened with the whole experience.
There's loads of jobs coming up if you look hard enough, - despite what doleys might tell you, however I question how many are real, a lot when you arrive to interview are clearly being given internally.
Where we live we are central to 4 towns so have a wide search area, plus the way things have worked out over the years she's gained a lot of experience in several fields so is keeping an open mind to what sort of job. Shes got experience as a receptionist, retail assistant, customer service assistant, nursery practitioner, and teaching assistant ( qualified up to level 3 ), with lots of additional SEN experience. Also has worked as a Lunchtime supervisor(aka dinnerlady),even with all that she's really struggling to find work. What hope have 16 year old school levers?

[Robsey]

16 year olds are cheaper to hire and fire.

The minimum wage has three bandings based on age,
so if they just want a general lacky, then a cheap and cheerful 16 year old would do.

sad but true - it is the cold reality of running a business at minimum cost.
it is all about the bottom line.

£5.28 for 16 to 18 yrs
£7.49 for 18 to 21 yrs
£10.18 for 21 yrs and older.

Plus weightings if you are in the London economic catchment zone.

[Envoy CDX]

It is a demoralising situation (sorry, I have meant to reply to this for a while now but haven;t been able to construct a reply I was happy with).

The job market is upside down in a lot of sectors - because of the hiring practises over the past 2 decades (which Rob mentions above) in that they hire kids* into positions that perhaps shouldn't have such young people in roles to save money, which in turn has massively declined in social sensibilities (at least, in my opinion).

A lot of companies now are disjointed in that the interviewer isn't supposed to contact the interviewee to advise they have been unsuccessful, it is left to the HR departments which is wrong, and rather clinical than any kind of human resource - sickly amusing when you consider HR's extended name... Rather than actively contacting people there is often a clause / small print basically stating 'if you haven't heard within x days of closing / interview assume you have been unsuccessful' which is utter dross (the words I want to use, I have actually recently banned ) Please contact us for any feedback.

People, staff, individuals, select as appropriate are viewed in the same way as factory robot it seems, easy to replace.. and with the automation of many tasks - the individual is quickly becoming redundant.

There are a lot of stereotypes and what frustrates me, is that we can't recruit at my level in my sector (3rd Line Systems Support, NHS, Information Technologies) due to wage disparity - something that is continuously highlighted but because we aren't medical - isn't likely to change).

Majority of the applicants coming through are also individuals looking to move to the UK, but without any relevant experience (probably 1st, or 2nd Line and in need of significant training).

Things I am learning is:

Loyalty to a company gains no merit in the eyes of the a company *unless a small business, in which case investment in their staff requires someone who is going to stay and not use it as a stepping stone.
We are just a number, regardless of what we achieve.
Some people have a degree in BS, and seem to be rewarded for it.
I can't talk about myself in a positive light (self deprecating, I am sure people who know me here can agree with that).
Being interviewed by someone younger than myself is uncomfortable - not sure why, just tend to be more on guard.
There are a lot of 'managers' out there that can't manage** themselves, and take it out on staff because they haven't communicated what they need.


*Kids - not a detrimental term, but when staff are becoming 'managers' at 23/24 are they really in a position to be a manager, life experience counts for a lot in terms of being empathetic / sympathetic and being able to deal with individuals in an appropriate manner.
**Manage - either got there by being a yes-person, and unable to protect their staff from being over-worked etc.

I guess this is more of a rant :/

My 2p worth for the job front, try a different approach. Look at areas you want to do, rather than what you're qualified to do so or have a lot of experience in, you might be surprised. Look at smaller companies for a more personal touch, family run businesses perhaps? As you say, 30 years work is maybe an interesting time to refocus what you / your wife wants to do rather than what you have to do to support a family etc.

[Robsey]

Well Gary, I think it was a reply worth waiting for...
I couldn't have said it better.

Majority of the applicants coming through are also individuals looking to move to the UK, but without any relevant experience (probably 1st, or 2nd Line and in need of significant training).

Yep, I have heard of a lot of oversees applications recently.
Many quoting qualifications that do not exist, or requesting sponsorship to become resident in the UK.

There are a lot of 'managers' out there that can't manage** themselves, and take it out on staff because they haven't communicated what they need.

Yep - seen this too. It is not nice when colleagues put on their corporate head.

[Envoy CDX]

I am not opposed to people coming over for a better life (if such a thing is possible in the UK these days :/ )
I just ask that forms didn't have what is translated to 'preferential treatment' which guarantees them an interview even if they don't meet the criteria.. The do-gooding for equality has gone too far the other way in that your average Joe / Jane Bloggs has to really stand out, or get applications in early, and it has people trapped in jobs they no longer wish to do, and has in some cases lead to fatalities where individuals have actually taken their own lives (I can't give details beyond that sadly)

[vexorg]

*Kids - not a detrimental term, but when staff are becoming 'managers' at 23/24 are they really in a position to be a manager, life experience counts for a lot in terms of being empathetic / sympathetic and being able to deal with individuals in an appropriate manner.
**Manage - either got there by being a yes-person, and unable to protect their staff from being over-worked etc.

My brother worked for the DSS, or DWP I think it might be now, towards the end of covid. He'd been there a a good few months, then the chance of the manager job came up as they were leaving. Just about everyone put their name forward. At the end of the first interview it was clear they had some agenda, the only two people rejected were the two white middle aged men (he's mid 40's now). And all those going to the next round were, black, gay or single mum's. In the end it didn't matter, the job went to a new girl that started 2 weeks before as her mum was a very senior manager in the department....

He left after that, saying how can he go try explain about issues of depression or anxiety that he suffers from to a 20 year old.

[Envoy CDX]

*Kids - not a detrimental term, but when staff are becoming 'managers' at 23/24 are they really in a position to be a manager, life experience counts for a lot in terms of being empathetic / sympathetic and being able to deal with individuals in an appropriate manner.
**Manage - either got there by being a yes-person, and unable to protect their staff from being over-worked etc.

My brother worked for the DSS, or DWP I think it might be now, towards the end of covid. He'd been there a a good few months, then the chance of the manager job came up as they were leaving. Just about everyone put their name forward. At the end of the first interview it was clear they had some agenda, the only two people rejected were the two white middle aged men (he's mid 40's now). And all those going to the next round were, black, gay or single mum's. In the end it didn't matter, the job went to a new girl that started 2 weeks before as her mum was a very senior manager in the department....

He left after that, saying how can he go try explain about issues of depression or anxiety that he suffers from to a 20 year old.

The numbers game. It's somewhat frustrating.

[3cav3]

Well! I've heard everything now! My wife went to an interview this morning and at the end they started to discuss pay. They stated that it would be treated as an apprenticeship scheme so therefore they wanted to pay her £7.50 an hour for 12months with no guarantee of a job at the end of it! Aparently this negotiates the minimum wage, and let's not forget the living wage will stand at £12 an hour from next monyh!Total piss take. How are you supposed to live off that in this day and age? The job would of entailed a 50 mile round trip each day and that pay wouldn't almost cover the cost of diesel. If it would given her job at the end we might of considered it. To be honest she's reaching the point of giving up. What do you have to do to get a job?

[Envoy CDX]

Having no idea where in the country you are, I can't really comment too much on the demographics.However, a 50 mile round trip is somewhat insane (to me at least).

That's what, a tenner a day in fuel, and probably an hour each way depending on time and roads used (allowing for traffic).
In terms of getting a job, at this point you'd be better off looking at fast food chains and working up to a manager level. Even the likes of Aldi, Lidl pay more than that to load shelves and scan stuff through the checkout.

Hopefully something will come up that will take the edge off and give you both some piece of mind.

[3cav3]

We've already tried applying for Lidil and Aldi, unfortunately they want you to start at 5.30am which as we live rural would mean she would have to get up around 4am, and with myself working so many hours I would be too knackered plus we would end up not seeing each other.
In regards to the Manager of McDonald's, she's probably too old in her late 30's.
I agree a 50 mile round trip does sound insane but living in a rural setting means that any job is going to be a 30+ mile round trip. Just couldn't believe they thought £7.50 an hour is acceptable in this day and age, plus as the contract would only initially be for a year I know what will happen in 12months time when they've got to start paying minimum wage!
I saw Robsey had replied yesterday, and now its gone. I whole heartedly agree with what he said, and can understand why he might of removed it, unfortunately the points he raised are true, this country really does need to get itself sorted out.
After I posted the comment yesterday, the firm who interviewed her Monday have asked her to go and do an unpaid day today. Let's hope its not just another dead end! She was down for working today in her existing job, however after managing to arrange a swap it now means she will have to work on the day of my Birthday instead, when we were supposed to be going out, (first time in 6 months)and will also have to cancel the babysitter.
We are more than happy to put the effort in and are willing to accept minimum wage however we don't think its even viable let alone fair to work for around £4 an hour under the minimum wage.