I’ve been trying to get a job at Harvard for almost three years and every time I think it’s finally going to happen they end up going with someone else. Last year I figured I’d try to get my foot in the door by temping, so I accepted a three month long assignment that paid $14/hr, hoping it would be an investment...
After three months, the person I was covering for came back. But I was thrilled when the department called me back a month later, asking me to fill in again. It turned out the original person left for good, so there was now an open position available!
I truly thought this was my lucky break, since they requested me back for the same role that was now open. But whenever I asked about the timeframe to actually be hired, they would just say they’re not sure what the new role will look like and that I should basically treat every day like an audition for the job. This went on for three months (so by now I was there for a total of six months and getting more and more stressed).
After they maxed out the time they could keep me as a temp, they decided to make me a Term employee for three months, hyping it up to seem like a huge success. But whenever I asked my supervisor for projects that would allow me to leave a foot print and prove myself, she would just tell me she appreciates my proactiveness, but unfortunately “it’s not appropriate because you’re a Term employee”. So, I made sure to keep a spreadsheet of everything I did, and tried to build solid relationships with my co-workers. My supervisor and the Director even told me on numerous occasions that all of the reviews they’d gotten about me were been very positive.
However, towards the end of my term end date, one of the managers gave me a very generic interview and barely glanced at the spreadsheet. And when I asked the department director a few days later if there are any updates, he told me I wasn’t even chosen as a finalist for the position.
I wish I knew what was going through their minds as they put me through this experience, and why they wanted to keep me around as long as they did if they weren’t intending to hire me permanently.
