Here’s a surprise, Triage lied to me in OD

So, remember the thing I mentioned a couple of entries back with the guaranteed job interview? Well…

I got the letter with all the information I needed. However, it mentioned the fact that this course will give me a greater chance when applying for a job in Poundland.

Now, I may not be the smartest guy on the planet, but greater chance of getting an interview doesn’t quite sound like guaranteed interview to me.

So, I decided to email Working Links, who are running the course, to seek clarification. The main reason I agreed to go on the course in the first place was because of the guaranteed interview. It’s hard enough to get a job interview so it seemed like a no brainer.

They phoned me and I asked them right out. No, attending the course does not guarantee a job interview. Well it does…

IF I complete the course.

AND I do well on the course (part of this is how I get on with other people, which is a problem for someone who is incredibly shy around other people),

AND I pass a pre-interview,

AND/OR enough people drop off the course that I basically get the interview by default.

Hmmmm. Now, either this is some new definition of the word guaranteed that I’m not yet familiar with, or the interview isn’t guaranteed.

It turns out that my advisor told me that the interview was guaranteed because he’s convinced that so many people will drop off the course that it practically is.

The thing is, neither Working Links nor my advisor can understand why I’m upset. Both of them think that I’m getting this amazing opertunity and I should be greatful. Maybe some of you think that as well.

Except, it turns out that the oppertunity isn’t as amazing as I was first led to believe.

The person from Working Links that I spoke to asked me if I’d feel the same had I applied for the course through an ad on the job centre website and it said possible interview.

Now I understand that she thinks she’s comparing apples to apples, but she’s not even comparing apples to oranges. She’s comparing apples to the middle eight section of the Doctor Who theme.

Had I seen this on the job centre website, I would have been fully aware that it woulod possibly finish with a job interview. I was lead to believe that this definitely would, whether 5 people finished the course or 55.

I would have still signed up, but had I not got an interview at the end I wouldn’t have felt like my time was wasted because, well, I knew the risk. Now, however, unless I do get an interview, well, I’ve done the course and got some sort of qualification (and, admittedly, I doubt I’m actually going to learn anything on this course), but it’s still two weeks out of my life I could have spent looking for work (my interweb access is going to be severely limited) during those two weeks) or writing, trying to get into the career I actually want.

Most annoyingly, because I had the sheer gall to ask questions to find out what the truth is, rather than just bending over and taking it, Working Links are convinced that I have a bad attitude, Which won’t help things.

Will