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Original poster

I didn't get the job but I'm expected to train successful applicant

157 replies

Toblerone345 · 09/06/2020 19:26

I recently applied for a job at my current place of work. It's a grade above me and since the previous job holder left I've been doing that role without any extra pay until they could find a replacement. I applied for the job but unfortunately I wasn't successful, despite doing the role currently alongside my actual role. Apparently they know I can do the job well as I'm already doing it, but someone else (without experience) got the job instead as they gave better examples in the interview.

Until the new joiner starts in a month or so, I'm expected to continue to do this role (none of the duties are in my job description) without extra pay. I'm then expected to train the new starter to do a job that I'm apparently not qualified for.

Does anyone know if I can be fired/disciplined for refusing to do this?

OP posts:

LisaSimpsonsbff · 10/06/2020 07:56

After I didn't get the promotion, I asked for detailed feedback and was given the marks for me and the successful candidate and they were interesting to say the least.

If they really let you see someone else's interview answers and scores then that's absolutely shockingly inappropriate.

BikeRunSki · 10/06/2020 07:57

Oh goodness @Toblerone345, this has happened to me. It sucks.

The new job was in a team am had worked uvery closely with for a couple of years, and provided them superb support in my field of expertise. When the successful candidate came to me for help to I showed him where the information he needed was and gave him the contact detail for our framework consultants in the field. When I was approached for being unhelpful, I told the “new“ team manager that they’d had plenty opportunity to get my skills on board, but now I really had to apply myself to the job I was paid to do.

It went no further. No telling off etc. At that point i’d been there 14 years and I’m really good at my job though.

lifestooshort123 · 10/06/2020 07:57

Behave impeccably (your reputation and a future reference trump hurt feelings) and look for a company that will treat you with more respect. The local council where I worked had someone 'acting up' for over a year, he had positive 1-2-1s and good reviews. They then advertised the job, we all thought he'd be a shoe-in but he wasn't even short listed. He resigned after a bitter exchange of words and never managed a permanent job again. Good luck.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Jobs

prh47bridge · 10/06/2020 08:02

@Ravenclawgirl - That is exactly what I meant when I said that most interviewers don't take the best approach to interviewing. Those are poor questions. Even if we accept them as valid, some of the scoring is odd - although I also wouldn't support scoring answers in this way. If you are going to score answers (which is not a good approach in my view - it is an interview, not an exam), at least think about which questions are most valuable rather than giving them all the same weight.

ThickFast · 10/06/2020 08:14

@Ravenclawgirl that’s so crap. They clearly just wanted her instead. Glad you got out

Sandybval · 10/06/2020 08:17

@Ravenclawgirl some interviewers are rubbish, that doesn't mean the system as a whole is bad. The fact that they shared someone else's scores and feedback shows they cannot act professionally.

SnuggyBuggy · 10/06/2020 08:35

I think the problem is what makes a good interview and what makes you good for the actual job are often completely different. Let's be honest most jobs don't want a standout, dynamic innovative person but someone who just shuts up and gets on with their work.

PrincessConsuelaVaginaHammock · 10/06/2020 08:35

@kgal3542

Do not train a new starter, as this is insulting, when you have been going over and above. Are you in a trade union? If not, consider joining GMB now, it's £7.83 per month for part time workers, not sure how much it is for a full time worker, but you need a trade union's backing to help you sort this. Best wishes to you

Joining a union is an excellent idea, but OP may want to consider one who care more about women than GMB do.

notthemum · 10/06/2020 08:38

@Flamedtoacrisp. This is perfect. I wish in my younger days I had had the foresight and composure to do this. Unfortunately I was much more hot-headed then and more inclined to tell them exactly where they could stick their job.

StormBaby · 10/06/2020 08:43

Can I just say that this will also be excruciatingly awful for the person starting the new job. It happened to me in the job I have now, gave it to me over someone already there as a longterm temp, then made him train me. Didn't help that he was actually lovely and rather fabulous at the job. The boss just didn't like him. We really clicked and I was devastated when they got rid of him once hed trained me. If I were you I'd go off sick.

Ravenclawgirl · 10/06/2020 09:56

After I didn't get the promotion, I asked for detailed feedback and was given the marks for me and the successful candidate and they were interesting to say the least

If they really let you see someone else's interview answers and scores then that's absolutely shockingly inappropriate

If? I asked for detailed feedback in writing and they sent me the questions and scores in an e mail.

BlindAssassin1 · 10/06/2020 10:08

Well, that's crap all round.

As above, be impeccable at your actual job, but unless they come to you offering you pay uplift for that interim period (they wont) stop doing the free overtime. Every time something is handed to you that's not your role, pass it back, re-direct it, clock off sharply and don't be contactable outside of work hours. "Sorry I'm not able to help you with this [piece of work] I think that's a [manager or whoev] role. I think that its their role until [new person] starts."

If they are insistent and you feel obliged to do it, do it within your set hours only and let it be know that its at the detriment of your core role. "Ok, I'll get on that tomorrow when I'm in [ie not now] and I'll put off [core role task] until next week."

I wouldn't be unpleasant or waste sickness time when the new person starts but neither would I be compiling a lovely how-to manual on how to do the job! Don't use any more of your time on that role.

When they do start you'll get the measure of them and what they actually know. It won't be as much as you. There's no need for unkindness but when they ask you "how do I....." don't spend hours essentially doing it for them. Signpost them: "You'll need to contact IT etc for that..."

And when they inevitably ask "Can you do that for me" thinking you're their PA, don't. "No sorry, everyone has to do that themselves."

I seen a lot of variations of this and it sucks. Good luck.

SnuggyBuggy · 10/06/2020 10:23

You also have to be careful not to let yourself be treated as if you are senior to this person when you are earning less. When I got landed training a person above me all the people our office liaised with treated me as the go to person over them because I'd been there longer.

pigoons · 10/06/2020 10:37

@BlindAssassin1has got it right.

Time to withdraw I think. Best strategy is usually to be a bit clueless, and nice without actually investing any energy.

Just don't do the extra role, say things like 'oh I didn't realise that was to be a priority, sorry' or 'I'm really busy with x in my core role'. When the person comes in, calmly deflect any enquiries back up the management ladder - 'oh, I think you need to discuss that with 'managers name', as I'm not sure I know the right way to do this" or 'oh HR would be best for that'

JeanBodel · 10/06/2020 10:54

Sometimes it is very unfair. Nepotism is rife in so many companies. There is also the factor where people from outside the company shine 'brighter' than those already working there.

Sometimes, however, the person acting up doesn't see why the successful candidate is better than them - because they literally cannot see the 'softer' skills that candidate has. The only criterion they judge by is the amount of time spent doing the job (because that is what they themselves have to offer).

I have no idea into which category your situation falls. But if you are serious about your career, don't do anything childish or immature in response to this situation.

LisaSimpsonsbff · 10/06/2020 11:42

@Ravenclawgirl

After I didn't get the promotion, I asked for detailed feedback and was given the marks for me and the successful candidate and they were interesting to say the least

If they really let you see someone else's interview answers and scores then that's absolutely shockingly inappropriate

If? I asked for detailed feedback in writing and they sent me the questions and scores in an e mail.

I was wondering if you'd had to fill in the gaps/extrapolate a bit because I was so shocked that they would give you her actual answers and scores - I think that's an appalling thing to do. Clearly it wasn't somewhere that anyone would want to work.

MrsSchadenfreude · 10/06/2020 11:56

It happened to me. Very niche job description which tied in exactly with my background and CV. They also wanted fluent French. Ticked that box too. Also, they had no senior women in that bit of the organisation so I would have upped their diversity stats. Interview went really well, lots of skills based questions relating to present and previous jobs. Job went to the husband of one of the secretaries, who had no French and no knowledge of the subject matter, but his answer to the question on strategic thinking was better than mine. I was asked if he could send a week with me, job shadowing and briefing him on his new role. Sorry, no, not and do my job as well. Maybe start with some e-learning? I also moved on quite quickly after that. Heard he was crap at the job, they had to pay for him to learn French, and he didn’t last.

BikeRunSki · 10/06/2020 12:05

It happened to me. Very niche job description which tied in exactly with my background and CV.

In the example I gave up thread, the job description was basically my PhD abstract, couple with a summary of the next 20 years of my CV. I lost out to someone who answered a Q about stakeholder management marginally better than me, despite it being a highly technical role, working along slide someone who specialises in stakeholder engagement. The person who got the job happened to already be in the team.

SudokuBook · 10/06/2020 12:28

Fuck being “the bigger person”. It doesn’t get you any reward. You just get seen as the person who will take being shat on and not complain. I’ve been that person in the past but never, ever again.

wildcherries · 10/06/2020 12:44

Agreed. It took me too long to learn.

SudokuBook · 10/06/2020 12:45

Exactly @wildcherries. Slogged my guts out and cried blood sweat and tears and at the first sign of hardship in the business I was out on my ear. I’ll be no ones mug again.

DrDavidBanner · 10/06/2020 12:48

@wildcherries

Agreed. It took me too long to learn.

Me too, its a tough lesson to learn, but the sooner you learn it the better.

wildcherries · 10/06/2020 12:57

@SudokuBook

Exactly *@wildcherries*. Slogged my guts out and cried blood sweat and tears and at the first sign of hardship in the business I was out on my ear. I’ll be no ones mug again.

Same. I remember those days. Going freelance was the best thing I ever did.

OP, I would look for another job while concentrating on my core tasks, as others have advised. I'd also speak to a union.

wildcherries · 10/06/2020 12:58

the sooner you learn it the better.

Absolutely.

MrsSchadenfreude · 10/06/2020 22:42

They were quite embarrassed about asking me to brief and train the bloke - they actually got my boss to ask me, who started by saying “You can absolutely say no to this and I will understand if you do, and it won’t be held against you...” So I did say no. I said there was a course on Futurelearn, that would give him some of the basics, and an OU course to follow on, which they would have to pay for. But I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, teach him something that I had over 10 years experience in, and which was really quite technical, in a week.

I got a better job - more senior, and better paid, a couple of months later.

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