Northern "role is no longer available and has been withdrawn from our hiring plans"

[johntea]

I applied for a job with Northern (in the corporate department) around 3 weeks ago, heard nothing until today when I received the following update :-

"We’re contacting you to let you know that unfortunately the role is no longer available and has been withdrawn from our hiring plans."

Is that a pretty normal thing for Northern to do - advertise a role then suddenly decide they won't be going ahead with the role at all or is it just a nicer way of telling me I wasn't selected for interview?

 

[randyrippley]

In any other business that would be the result of either a budget cut, or a senior manager cutting a junior manager's empire building.

 

[Horizon22]

It happens unfortunately from time to time.

Budget constraints normally or a change in a business case or even someone rescinding a resignation / internal move delayed. At least you'd hadn't got as far as an interview or an offer before this happened.

 

[185]

Unlike other operators that would sensibly put applicants into a talent bank in the hope there is a business need in future, Northern have form for doing this, wasting candidates time, then inexplicably re-advertising the exact same position weeks later - although less so in recent years.

 

[Samzino]

Unlike other operators that would sensibly put applicants into a talent bank in the hope there is a business need in future, Northern have form for doing this, wasting candidates time, then inexplicably re-advertising the exact same position weeks later - although less so in recent years.

To be fair to them its the equivalent of ripping off the band-aid rather than what would be the opposite which is swimming in an infinite pool. Unfortunately these things happen, I'd say its much better to not waste any more time and call a spade a spade. If of course they end up re-advertising the role at a later period it may be due to budget being found again or as someone above has mentioned, the previous occupier of the role has finally left.

 

[Ducatist4]

I've seen Network Rail do this as well.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Is that a pretty normal thing for Northern to do - advertise a role then suddenly decide they won't be going ahead with the role at all or is it just a nicer way of telling me I wasn't selected for interview?

This scenario happens in other sectors, as well. Sometimes enforced budget cutting, sometimes changes to organisation structure / head-count allocation.
One role I'd applied and interviewed for, was then taken from the table to external candidates and suddenly filled internally with someone who lacked many of the advertised "essential skills and experience".
I had a "mole" in the org, who told me the internal candidate was young and female. Four weeks later, the hiring manager had left the business...

 

[Ducatist4]

Sometime they go through the motions of making an external appointment when all along they intended to offer it internally.

 

[johntea]

Thanks

Think I would have actually liked them to interview me just for some experience of an interview process at a rail operator but never mind no doubt something else will come up in the future

I'm certainly used to 'internal candidate already pretty much signed the dotted line but HR want them to go through the motions' process having worked in public sector all my career, although I did have an interesting experience once where the internal candidate who had been doing the job on a temporary cover basis had applied and was at the interview for the permanent post then decided to withdraw just before the interviews began!