Turned down for Job, position still open, should I persevere?

SouperComputer

Ill give the the "shorter" version of a long story.

Back in March of this year I was talking to a friend and he mentioned that there would be an IT position at the company that he works for. He works in the IT dept as an admin. At the time I was taking a break from the business as such and so I wasn't really interested.

The company is a financial services corporation that takes care of a single famile's trust fund. Its a very wealthy family to say the least ($Bn's). For the position they have an excellent salary and excellent benefits. Overall its a very lucrative position and company to work for.

So in July, my friend mentioned this position to me again that this position was still open and that he strongly urged me to apply. So I did, and I began going through the grinder...........

Telephone interview
Another Telephone interview
Face-to-Face interview with IT director and HR Manager
Some assessments (work-attitude, analogy and IQ type exams)

Things were going very well (I was getting a little inside feedback from my friend who works there) until after the last assessment after which the HR Manager basically told me via email they were going with another candidate. This was before we even did an IT-Specific technical assessment so that would not appear to be the issue.

The email basically said that based on the assessments they did not feel that the position was a good match for my talents.

Roll on a month after this email and I spotted a position with an incredible similarity to the one I applied for on a recruitment website. It turns out that the position has still, after over six months, not been filled! Being turned down for another candidate is one thing, but for the position not to be filled is BS.

I'm considering contacting the HR Manager and having a second stab at this. I never had an opportunity to address their concerns either directly or through them contacting my references and it was really odd the way things came to an abrubt halt after one of the assessments.

Any thoughts?

Am I flogging a dead horse or could I gain Kudos by showing that I am serious about working with this company and that I would like to at least listen to and have an opportunity to address their concerns? Don't get me wrong here, I'm far from desperate.

I'm hoping to get some more info from my friend, but from what I gather, both he and the IT Director were rooting for me then the train just stopped dead!

TIA

pow wow

I would leave it.

HR know who you are, and haven't come back to you after leaving the vacancy unfilled for months. Usually they will keep you on file and contact you if they liked you....as they've been quiet I'd be inclined to say that for whatever reason you didn't and still don't meet their requirements.

If you want to give them a call go ahead (and if you're the kind of person who will always be wondering 'what if' then do it!) but I wouldn't be overly optimistic about it. Happened to me a couple of times with a couple of jobs (I was either too expensive compared to a junior or they decided not to fill the vacancy even tho I was allegedly fab) and I reapplied for both and didn't even get an acknowledgement or a firm PFO.

How Strange

OP, def forget about it. Its the career equivalent of begging your ex to take you back after you've been dumped. They don't want you for whatever reason so you'll only look unprofessional and desperate.

I had a similar situation where a job was advertised that I was perfect for and I didn't even get an interview. My friend, with hardly any experience, did get an interview. Anyway, the job was advertised for months, the spec changed, the salary changed and I would guess from all those changes that there were internal problems. It looks bad on a company as well if they can't recruit i.e. their expectations don't match the salary offered so they can't get their 'perfect' candidate. Would you want to work for a company who can't recruit effectively? If they are interested they may contact you again.

kmick

Leave it go - there was some reason they did not like you and that reason is unlikely to change. Apply somewhere else.

AlphaMale 3OO

I'd go again. Dont listen to this negativity. What have you got to lose? Who cares if you look unprofessional? Your not working for them either way. How does it hurt your future prospects with any other company? You've nothing to lose.

mikemac

I applied for my current job directly to the company and got PFO letter the next week.
I waited a few weeks and applied again but this time through an agency. I got the job no problem and managed to negotiate a better salary then the recruitment agent put me forward for.

Not sure what HR were messing at. They could have saved thousands if they’d accepted my first application and my CV was exactly the same.

So it might work OP, but it is unlikely

Eoin

forbesii wrote:

I'd go again. Dont listen to this negativity. What have you got to lose? Who cares if you look unprofessional? Your not working for them either way. How does it hurt your future prospects with any other company? You've nothing to lose.

I was inclined to say don't bother, but the post above makes more sense - you've very little to lose.

Perhaps you could ring them and say you would be very grateful if you could get some more feedback from your interview process, as this is a role you really would have liked. Should a similar position become available, you would like to be better prepared / better able to demonstrate your suitability to the position.

dazberry

I would add weight to the leave it go side...

but perhaps as a compromise call the IT director and see if he can shed any light on the situation - and if it still looks relatively positive - ask him should/could you reapply - and let him drive it from his end if need be.

... and often there can be more behind their decision than is apparent. A scenario I've ran into a couple of times has been down to companies not wanting to pay (or even approach) market rates. That's their problem not mine beyond wasting my time.

D.

BostonB

The reality is HR and management is a shambles in a lot of places. You've nothing to lose by applying again. But I wouldn't have high hopes. Never say never though.

Dudess

BostonB wrote:

The reality is HR and management is a shambles in a lot of places.

Yep, very true. And forbesii is dead right - you've nothing to lose, and it's a mistake to rely on preconceived notions, even if they're the more realistic ones. The unexpected can happen.
At the same time though, has your friend confirmed that the position is still open? A month since you received confirmation from the company isn't long at all. It already took them five months when you applied, what's another month? What about all those other candidatest that were turned down before you? And I would definitely NOT trust a recruitment website - especially if it's a recruitment company's own website. And websites that advertise jobs aren't particularly reliable either - I've had experience of jobs being left up on them after the positions are filled.

rickybutcher

Just make sure you measure exactly your approach, so that's appropriate and professional as possible, but that aside, you've absolutely nothing to lose. I would agree with the poster who said HR is a shambles in most places, I would say that is particularly the case with IT recruitment. And I would go even further and say that any HR manager I've ever known has been personally extremely lazy about their work, fundamentally incompetent, grossly overpaid and generally given far more power than their qualifications, abilities and role in the company merits. Anyway, make the approach, you have nothing to lose, and best of luck.

the_syco

There's a chance that there is a new HR person in charge. As for the nay-sayers, who cares if you didn't get the job the first time. What's the worst that can happen? You don't get it again? Or the best? You get the job.

Reapply.

Susipoo

My advice is to call and ask for feedback on your interview. Tell them that you believe that your skills are up to scratch but you're afraid that you haven't come across well in the interview and would like to make improvements for future job applications. Presuming the feedback is positive enough you could drop into conversation that you were particularly disappointed that you didn't get that job. A friend of mine did this, the company were impressed by his willingness to improve himself (or something) and gave him the job - as it happened he did phenomenally well there and they've never regretted the decision. If it doesn't work out at least you'll know what went wrong.