Have you ever been the back up candidate and got the job?

[doggydesperado]

My partner has been pretty much told last night that after a few interviews- the final one being him and one other person, that the other person has been selected for a final interview. The interview was last night. He feels very down as it was a perfect opportunity. He also thinks it strange that they wouldn’t interview the last two candidates ( final interview is with the big boss) so that he has a comparison. Anyway have you or anyone been the reserve candidate and then got the job?

Not exactly but my current role, I applied for one job which went to someone else but was offered another.
I'm also involved in recruiting for my department and we'll often have more than one good candidate and have to pick between them. Occasionally we'll have the first choice turn down the offer and we're quite happy to go out to the second because it was a close choice between the two.
We've also had roles open up and have remembered good people we've seen before and have gone out to find out if they're still available.

Yes, came second and was told to reapply next time they advertised. The job went to someone who was doing the same somewhere else so could easily adapt. Turned out she'd only accepted as leverage to get a promotion/salary increase with her existing employer. They contacted me about a month later and said it was mine if I wanted it.

My mum was offered a job after the first choice candidate couldn't hack it and left after a week. She stayed there 10 years until she retired.