I volunteered at a charity shop for 8 months, hoping it would lead to a job opportunity. Initially, I was just looking for something to do to improve my mental health while job searching. I enjoyed the work and the social aspect of it. A few months in, I learned that a paid position was opening up due to an employee leaving, so I applied, thinking my experience would give me an edge. I had been doing many of the tasks already, like cashing up and handling admin duties, and I emphasized this during the interview. However, after the interview, I was rejected by the manager's manager. They cited my lack of questions at the end of the interview as a sign of curiosity deficiency, which baffled me since I had been volunteering there for months and had no questions left to ask. I also struggled to provide a specific example for one of their questions about excellent customer service. I'm feeling really down about this. I thought I had a good chance at the job, and it was a blow to my self-esteem to be turned down after all that time and effort. It feels like my dedication meant nothing to them, and I'm struggling to understand why they would choose someone else over a current volunteer who knows the ropes.