Cardiff students reveal their most brutal job rejections

The pandemic has left many 2020 graduates struggling to find jobs. More people are looking for an all time low pool of jobs, making job rejections at an all time high. What a time to be a graduate, hey? Cardiff students are no exception. We asked for the most brutal job rejection that you guys have ever had, and here’s a breakdown of the most savage ones:

It turns out McDonalds can be ruthless

Not only do McDonalds reject you, they may forget you ever existed. One student told The Cardiff Tab that they “got rejected from 4 different McDonald’s”. Unless they put that their favourite food is the Whopper, this kind of rejection feels unneeded.

Another student claimed that they “applied to work at McDonald’s after I finished my GCSEs. I got an interview and everything, all confirmed by their team and then I showed up and they said they had no idea who I was and my name wasn’t down for an interview at all”.

Tbh my local maccies would recognise me instantly, I’m in there every other day for my nugget fix.

Watching a 30 year-old man pretend to be a baby, THEN getting rejected

One student told The Cardiff Tab: “I applied for a job at a place that offered tutoring for kids aged 5-14, I was 18 at the time I think, maybe just under, so the interview was really weird. I had to sit with this man who was maybe 30 whilst he pretended to be a young kid and I had to role play how I would teach this kid maths. SO I’m sat there whilst this grown man puts on a baby voice and pretends to kick off because he doesn’t want to do maths and it was just so uncomfortable and I did my best but I found it awkward, and basically didn’t get the job because my acting during this weird role play wasn’t strong enough”.

It’s hard to find the words. But if you have to watch a 30 year old man pretending to be a baby in the interview process alone, then you I think  should either get the job as compensation for the trauma you’re put through or be thankful that you didn’t get the job.

Being asked why I even applied in the first place?

Speaking of difficult interviews, one student told The Cardiff Tab that “during the interview the first thing they said was ‘to be quite honest I don’t know why you applied'”.

I hope it was met with a response like ‘well to be “quite honest” I don’t know why you’re such a twat’.

how tired I am of all this rejection

I deserved to get rejected tbf

“Once I tried to get a volunteer role in school as a mentor for younger kids in school and she asked me in the interview ‘what angers you the most?’, and I said rude children and then suffice to say didn’t get the role, asked for feedback and she never responded to the email. Personally can’t think where I went wrong.”

They just blank my applications

What’s worse? Being aired by your crush or the job you so desperately need? One student told The Cardiff Tab, “I just haven’t been replied to by anyone…they just blank my application.”

Why am I even on LinkedIn at this point?

Another student told us that they “desperately handed out CV’s to every restaurant, cinema, pub, cafe, brothel absolutely everything in town praying I’d get some kind of reply from somewhere but I got 0 replies (and it’s not a small town). I even checked to see if I’d been an idiot and put the wrong contact details but no…they were just blanking me.”

Too smart for for KFC

Another student claimed that they “got rejected from KFC because I’m at Cardiff uni”, which I’m going to assume meant that they were overqualified and too perfect for the role? Yeah, we’ll go with that.

I was used for my musical talents, then rejected

“Once I did a charity gig for free for a fudge shop after like 2 first learning shifts then she never gave me any other shifts and used me for the gig lol”. Employers these days, all take and no give.

It’s all lies

Some people were just blatantly lied to, in the most obvious ways. One student was told they were “too young” despite being “two years older than the minimum age on their website”.

It’s the heartbreak

We’ve all felt a real connection with someone only to find out that they’re not who we thought they were, but sometimes the snake isn’t a potential shag but an interviewer.

One student told us “One time I had a Waitrose interview and it went so well and the manager said I was a breath of fresh air. So I was really happy but then I got a rejection. So I demanded feedback from the manager as he gave me a sense of false hope. And he started getting really aggressive at me saying he “didn’t like my tone” and “I’m sensing some hostility” I was fuming, I filed a big complaint, hate that man”. They really do build you up just to break you down.

oh yes, another rejection.

Wishing you got rejected

For those of us who have jobs, one student said “sometimes I just wish I was rejected from the job, it’s a fucking hell hole”. If that’s not the most relatable story ever, what is?

These stories certainly made me feel a lot better about not being able to find a job right now, but I’m sure there’s plenty more rejection to come.

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