In which her dream job disappears into the ether

Remember this? Poof, it’s gone. Hiring freeze. The day before I was supposed to start.

It’s taken a while to get the paperwork together. (Only about nine weeks.) We were waiting on an hourly basis for final approval from on high, and just before that happened — department-wide hiring freeze. No signatures, no new job. And the very worst part? Had the paperwork gone through just a little quicker, like a week or so, maybe a couple of days, I would have been in.

In the grand scheme of things, I know I’m lucky. I still have a job, a job I loved until I heard about the other one. Nobody is sick, nothing catastrophic has happened, nothing has been lost except opportunity. And the bus pass I cancelled. And the promotion of the girl who was going to replace me. And the two hours each day of recovered commuting time. And my dream job.

Sigh. I just want to go home and cry…

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Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

46 thoughts on “In which her dream job disappears into the ether”

  2. How horribly disappointing, Dani! We all know how excited you were about that job and how perfect it seemed for you. Did they give any indication of when it might be offered again? Ugh, I’d be in tears too.

  6. I’m so sorry, Dani! I’m so very sorry! I will say this about that though – given that you were going on an interchange, if that freeze had kicked in while you were there, they would never have been able to deploy you. So you would have loved it, and had to come back nonetheless.
    Big hugs. Big big big hugs.
    K

  8. This sucks mouldy moosecock. I am giving the hiring freeze the finger. Hiring freezes are jerks. YOU, however, are amazing and after a bit of mourning, will come out on top.

    *captcha oracle: im squirrel

  9. Dani, I am so sorry. Gah! This sucks. You are right to look at the positives, but we’ll mourn the list coolness of the job with you:( today.
    Coffee on Thursday? My treat. For a pissy week. I’ll bring the baileys;).

  11. My brother works for StatsCan-I’ve heard all about the acrobatics to get a new job. that totally, absolutely, BLOWS GOATS. 🙁

    When the hiring freeze is lifted, can you get in?

  14. Oh, Dani!! I’m so sorry! That just sucks. Hopefully it means that another (better) opportunity will come your way soon, and that this one just wasn’t meant to be.

  15. Aw, that’s crappy Dani. I have to echo Twinmom as I know you are a big believer in fate yourself. I look forward to seeing the great thing that is going to happen because this job didn’t….

  16. I feel so bad for you DaniGirl! I’m really sorry!

    You know what? I’m sure there will be other opportunities even better than this one!

    One day, a buddy of mine told me “Be careful with what your dreams in Canada are… They may become true!”

  18. Dani, I’m so sorry to hear that! It totally sucks. I hope the freeze is lifted soon (maybe in the new year?) and you can still take the opportunity.

  22. I’m sure they’re as bummed about this as you are and come April 1st it will all be on again, right? We’ve had all sorts of HR stupidity here, too in the last couple of weeks – on of those we-might-have-an-election-soon budget crunches. The position exists now, so it’s only a matter of waiting out this nonsense for a bit. I’m sure.

  24. donkey balls*snicker*
    blows goat *snicker*
    mouldy moosecock *guffaw*

    Thanks guys, you make me feel better. AND, you add a whole new level of colour to my vocabulary!

    Kerry is right, it’s better that I found out now and that the agreement didn’t go through, rather than being yanked back in February and causing even more chaos and disruption.

    And, I’ve been kind of absently hoping along the lines of what XUP said — they still need someone eventually, so maybe there’s hope in the new fiscal year.

    I’ve become very philosophical about it today, once I got over the bitterness. Everything happens for a reason, right? And I seem to be extraordinarily blessed, so I truly believe things will work out in the end…

  25. Dani, I am so glad to see you write, ‘everything happens for a reason’ and I too believe this but, hate writing it in case. Either way it sucks but at least you had the opportunity and they know you are there and willing when and if the freeze lifts. This way you can take the bus to work this winter without scraping the car.

  26. I just know you had those extra 2 hours already programmed. I feel so bad for you so here is a great big hug!

  27. Count me among the sorry to hear, but also among the unsurprised. I once worked for two months on a staffing action to get another editor into our section, went right through to checking the references for those who did well on the exam and the interview. And then our division amalgamated with another and ‘hiring priorities changed’.

    I’m sorry this has happened to you, and I’m hoping things look sunnier in the new fiscal year and that you get snapped up then.

  30. I’m so sorry Dani! Hiring freezes are the pits and if misery really does love company, then I’m right there with you. Days before I was accepted for a lateral move within the same company – hiring freeze. Grrr.

    Glad to hear you’re taking it all in stride but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for it all to work out!

    Cheers,
    Carly

  31. I can’t tell you how much I sympathize with this suckage. It sounded so great – plus the extra 2 hours in your day. But, something will come of it –
    Hope the extra vocab cheers a little!
    (ReCAPTCHA = the whoa !)

  35. Andrea, I was hired in principal on the spot, but then there were complications. First, I had to pay back my year-long maternity leave to my current department — ironically, under rules that were struck down while I was on mat leave, but since I’d signed my agreement before they were struck down, I had to abide by them. DND was willing to work around the requirement by bringing me over on an assignment until the end of February, then permanently deploying me. We were waiting for the assignment agreement to be signed by DND management on Monday or Tuesday for a Wednesday start date — and the hiring freeze kicked in Monday night. So, if it weren’t for the union clause that no longer exists but I still had to abide by, I’d be in the job already. Gotta love the bureaucracy…

  38. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Dani, I am so so sorry to hear this. Govt is such a strange place. I have never worked there myself but my sister and brother-in-law do and the stuff they have had to go through it just plain silly. Take Care.

  39. They’ve said it all. Sucks. Blows. Bites. Hard. So sorry to hear about this, and hoping you’ll find your Zen footing. On the up side? Maybe we can actually start having regular chitchat coffee breaks like we’ve been meaning to. How’s that for tipping the balance?? 😉

  40. I am sooooooooooo sorry to hear this! I cannot believe how disappointed I am for you. What I was looking forward to most was hearing of life sans commuting.

    Hoping it will all come together at some point. You will likely look back on this at some point and say, “Oh, THAT’s why it happened that way.”

  45. Sorry to hear that. Hopefully things will improve enough with the budget enough to lift the hiring freeze and you will get the job again.

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