In reply to a post by DanJC:

I agree!
This forum has gave me more answers than anywhere else.... And then they go and close it down!
Why close a popular forum down?

They closed a thread, not a forum. They tend to do that when the thread gets too long - see Mr Saffron's post near the end of the thread, saying that the topic can still be debated - presumably it causes problems in overloading their back-end system, so they'd rather you start a fresh thread, and (if needed) add a link back to a post in the original thread.

In reply to a post by DanJC:

The layout of the general broadband chatter page is daft too, instead of being like a normal forum and just showing the title of the thread and when it was last posted in.. It seems to show a massive long list which apparently is each and every post so yeah that's understandable as to why the thread was too large but just change the format on that main page and it won't look that way!

You can change the format of the home page, and change the format of the way an individual thread/post appears when clicked.

For the home page, there is a button near the top where you can swap between "Expanded" or "Collapsed" view. Use that to swap - or, as RobertoS points out, alter your personalised settings.

For a thread/post, you can swap between "Threaded" and "Flat" view.

Like RobertoS, I use the Collapsed and Flat views by default.

Closing long threads is more to do with users paging through than a problem on the back end. A lot of people have the default forum settings so even in flat mode they have a lot of pages when a thread gets long. So, to improve the user experience the thread is closed and people can then create a part 2/3/4/etc to continue the conversation.

rather than the slow-loading Main Index.

Dead quick here Bob, you sure you have your micro filters set up correctly ?

As the others have correctly replied, the Openreach employment thread was getting unwieldy.

It was also kinda off topic for the 'general broadband chatter' section heading too if you think about it.

Most folk come here seeking advice on broadband issues, not 'Top Tips on getting a role within Openreach'.

Good luck anyway.

Ok thanks to all that replied, I didn't realise I could change the display preferences of the forum.
And yes my bad.. The forum wasn't closed but the thread was.. I should have added thread in there.
And yes I agree, it is a bit off topic but having scoured the net for tips from like-minded people who have or are going through the same process, this forum (the old thread) kept popping up and to be honest it's been the most helpful!

And everyone is happy for the conversation to carry on and I am sure wishes anyone applying for new jobs the best of luck.

I went to assessment and thought I did ok but then I received this email that I didn't get the job. Sounds like a copy/paste email that they send to those they reject rather than a personalised email to myself, right? I mean they didn't address the email to me by name, it just says "Hi".

Extremely disappointed that I didn't get the role as I think I would have been good at it (service delivery engineer, mostly working alone). I am used to working alone from home, most of my time stuck in front of a computer screen (hate it) and the hours are very long ,I don't have time to get out much so I'm not exactly the best at talking in social situations. Anyone can go out of practice from talking in social situations but it easily comes back once your situation changes. I am working at home most of the time and when I am not I spend all of the rest of my time with my partner and our baby girl.

I have nearly 20 years experience in working with computers and the internet problems. I can fix all manner of faullts with a computer and network and I am very experienced at dealing with internet connection issues. The only thing I don't have experience in is dealing with faults that are outside of the property but obviously they train you for that.

I fear that lack of social ease hasn't done me any favours in helping to give the best impression of myself during the interview. Not saying that I did really badly or anything, I thought it didn't go too badly, just that I could have said some things a bit better and presented myself better if I had more practice in these situations. During the interview especially I tend to panic and my focus can be distracted by that, which doesn't help me at all as I am unable to think clearly and also gives the impression that I am not at ease. I have A grade GCSE's that I got from last year on an adult course so it's not that I'm dense, just a bit socially unpracticed. I can hold a conversation but I could be better at it and I am sure I would be if I didn't have to spend 10+ hours a day looking at a computer screen, which is awful for your health, both physical and mental.

One thing that I wonder about is might they get back in touch with me in the future or is this a final rejection? Because it says "unfortunately we will not be progressing with your application at this time" But it also says I can re-apply to start the process again in 6 months time. Here is the email they sent me:

Hi,

Thank you so much for the time you spent recently with us during our assessment centre. We hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did getting to meet you.

As you know the day was designed for us to test your fit against our roles through a number of key activities. These came with instructions provided to follow on our skills test (rather than testing technical knowledge) as well as through detailed interviews. Hiring the right individuals for our business and our customers is key and we use these activities to give us some insight into how people will perform through our challenging training period, and ultimate success in the role. We have high standards and expectations from these days and look for people to meet those across all activities.

Despite the fact you demonstrated a number of the key skills we look for in our engineers, I�m sorry to say that unfortunately we will not be progressing with your application at this time. For us unfortunately it was during your interviews where we struggled to get the best from you on the day and failed to reach the standards we expect from any new recruit. Evidencing an ability to adapt to a customer�s needs with the same enthusiasm, passion and understanding of demands as our current engineers is paramount for success and we are really keen to find people who can demonstrate a true desire to work for Openreach to be the brand ambassadors we need them to be, whilst articulating this desire through their interviews.

Sorry if this isn�t the news you would have liked to have heard but if you are still interested in working for Openreach you are more than welcome to reapply in six months� time. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for all your participation during your journey so far, and good luck for the future in your career.

Many thanks

Edited by deleted (Mon 11-Apr-16 17:18:38)

Hi sini, sorry to hear you didn't make it through.

About the part where you said the email wasn't very personal to you and just said 'hi'
When they emailed me asking if I was still interested and when I was free to do a short telephone interview, that email wasn't very formal either and just said hi! I thought it was a clever spam email at first but turned out it wasn't!

I think it is a final rejection, as far as I'm aware and like it says in the email.. You can re-apply in 6 months. So you'd have to go on the careers website and actually do the application again and go through the whole process again.

I can't be sure on anything that they're after but I can't help but feel something that also may have let you down is actual face to face relations with a customer.. Along the same lines of like you were saying you're good on your own but not exactly the best in social situations... I feel they'll look for people who ARE good in social situations and face to face customer service.
It's something I got told before my assessment day that they are super crazy on good customer service (or trying to be).

Don't give up though, try again in 6 months, this time you'll be prepared!

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

rather than the slow-loading Main Index.

Dead quick here Bob, you sure you have your micro filters set up correctly ?

My Home, less than a second. Main Index ~ 3 seconds.

My Home, less than a second. Main Index ~ 3 seconds.

Weird, Main Index less 3.4 seconds for me .......