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3 weeks ago, I had an interview for my dream job w/ 1 of the worlds largest oil refineries. At the end of the interview the HR lady conducting the interview told me it could be up to 3 weeks before she knew anything, due to background checks. Typically with ALL these companies, once you pass the background check, theyll conditionally offer you the job but, you still have to pass the physical & hair/blood/saliva/urine test to be given your final offer. Mind you now, the starting date for this job isnt until the 1st week of December.
** Note: The hair/blood/saliva/urine drug tests cant be performed until late November due to the job starting in early December**
This company was hiring 15 people & from the information Ive gathered ( An Oil/Gas Job Message Board), roughly 30 people made it to the interview process. These interviews spanned over the course of 4 days. My interview was on the 3rd day.
Within a few days of my interview, 2 people had already been given conditional offers. So already, myself & others were confused, as to why would they offer 2 people jobs up front, without even doing the Background check. She completely contradicted herself. I also found out that just a day after they both received conditional offers, they both did their physicals & are just now going through the background check process.
24 hours after my interview, I sent a follow-up "Thank You" note & 5 business days later, I made a follow up via telephone & she told me that, it would probably be another week until she knew anything ( which would be 1 week ago, today). During this time, you had some people on the message boards getting calls from HR wanting to clarify some information for the background checks. From what I gathered, it was mostly just address information from the past 10 years & some people just didnt list enough addresses BUT, how would they know about their addresses anyhow, if they wanted people to list them in the first place? Hmmmm. At any rate, I listed all of mine & I never heard from HR at all. During this time as well, 3 more guys were given offers.
When I listed all of my address history, I was also asked to list references from every job that was listed on my resume. I did just that & as of Thursday last week, NONE of my references have even been contacted. I called every 1 of them to verify & none of them have been contacted.
Last Friday, a guy from the message board got tired of waiting as well, called HR & was told, " I know I told you guys last week & then this week but, give me until next week & Ill let everybody know their statuses. These people running the background checks are new & are just learning the job, yadda-yadda."
As of the end of the day today, no rejection emails nor, offers were made to anyone.
Judging from the facts that Ive presented here, what do you make of this? Are we just getting smoke blown up our as&%$ or, for some insane reason, these background checks are just taking an obnoxiously long time for some of us or, maybe its entirely something else?
I would sincerely appreciate any & all knowledgeable insight / theories on this matter. Thank You.
You could be basing all this anxiety on an unreliable message board. Maybe those people are just gossiping? HR has already contradicted what some posters there said.
In all honesty, these folks on the board are legit. The timing in which theyve said things & knowing certain names of the HR folks would be nearly impossible to fabricate unless they were actually part of the process which, I believe they are.
While I completely understand the possibility that Im not a top candidate, why the incredible difference in times & standard protocol to conduct background checks? It just does seem rational at all & Ive been through a few BG checks before.
A potential theory, since nobody will know for sure what the real case is:
1st group. The "known quantities". Referrals, perhaps rehires, VP's kids. These guys were basically hired when they sat down. The job offer was conditional on passing the checks.
2nd group. The solid candidates. Passed the interview stage, will get the offer contingent upon background. The guys getting calls from HR.
3rd group. The backups. They'll fill in for guys from group 1/2 who fail or disappear in offer stage. This is you.
4th group. The "no-gos". HR doesn't even answer or return the call.
Road Warrior, while what you said definitely does make some sense & is very well possible, heres where Im further confused & I didnt mention this part in my original post. 1 of the guys who had to wait through the BG process & got an offer ( a #2 in your list), has no work experience. Hes straight out of the military. I have a solid 20 year work history w/ exceptional references & Im also a certified refinery operator w/ another major oil corporation. Go figure....
Im also a certified refinery operator w/ another major oil corporation. Go figure....
Two words: corporate espionage!
What you see as qualifications did actually disqualify you. That or your experience makes you too expensive, or any other number of reasons why they didn't call you.
I don't know what you are trying to say, but it is pretty insulting to say that someone straight out of the military doesn't have any work experience. Perhaps you mean that he doesn't have any oil experience that you know of. The company may be getting a government incentive to hire vets.
It sounds like they are using a new company to do a lot of backgrounds at one time, which can slow things down. Perhaps they are working a small batch of BIs to conclusion, and then moving on to the next batch, which would account for some people getting a job offer and others being in limbo.
Two words: corporate espionage!
What you see as qualifications did actually disqualify you. That or your experience makes you too expensive, or any other number of reasons why they didn't call you.
I highly doubt they have me pegged as a spy. lol. My experience wouldnt warrant me any extra $ as this is a non-union gig.
I don't know what you are trying to say, but it is pretty insulting to say that someone straight out of the military doesn't have any work experience. Perhaps you mean that he doesn't have any oil experience that you know of. The company may be getting a government incentive to hire vets.
It sounds like they are using a new company to do a lot of backgrounds at one time, which can slow things down. Perhaps they are working a small batch of BIs to conclusion, and then moving on to the next batch, which would account for some people getting a job offer and others being in limbo.
Joe, thats what I meant to say & I should have worded my sentiments better. Im a veteran myself & mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone. What you say also makes sense, regarding the long wait.
Maybe what happened is that some of the first ones might have had offers from other places and they have to make a choice.
The other factor is and some might not like to hear it but was anyone going on vacation beforehand? The closer you get to the end of a financial year the more likely it might be used. HR might need a break now and then and then there's time to catch up. Scheduling can be hard sometimes depending on the level of staffing.
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