To be upset that I didn't get an interview?

[Sundaycoffee]

I have worked within my team for the past 5 years and was actively encouraged by my manager to apply for an internal role after a development meeting (working within the same team). She is the director of the team but not the line manager of the role. It would have been a promotion on what I do now and although I didn't have as much experience for the role as others may have, i have a lot of transferable skills and have obviously already built relationships within the team which helps. She told me that I should apply and would be happy to give me a chance and I could definitely do it.
Today I received an automated email from recruitment saying that I have not been selected for an interview.
AIBU to feel a bit put out by this?
Would have understood had I been unsuccessful after the interview but why encourage someone to apply then not even give them the chance? And then to just receive an automated email rejection...

This is pretty bad and poor from your company.
Even if you did not meet any criteria for the job, which I doubt or your director won’t have suggested to apply, they should not have let you know with an automatic email.
it is either a mistake, an automatic programme scannining for words, or HR and leadership are terrible and I will be looking to change company.
let your director know asap and ask HR why you did not get an interview given a director suggested you to apply.
sometimes HR uses specific programmes to vet CVs using some key words and it might be it.
I was working for a large utility company and we had a vacancy for which we would not get any candidates passed through for interview. We enquiried with HR and they said they would reject any CV of people with foreigner names. I am European and I was the hiring manager. Can you believe??!

If it’s anything like most job applications there will be a HR filtering process before it reaches the shortlisting stage. At this initial stage if your CV doesn’t hit the key indicators required for the role you won’t even make it past that stage and likely at that early stage she has no input. I’d certainly ask though, but likely you have put it out of her hands by not having a strong enough cv. You need to match your CV to the JD.

If you are in a corporate environment she won’t be part of the initial process and you would have been screened out by recruitment.

Recruitment will short list for initial interview then pass to Hiring Manager for review before scheduling. As such, probable the HM also didn’t see your CV.

This happens frequently when there is a designated Recruitment function.

Ping your Director and say you’ve applied but got automatically declined from the process, It is likely he/she will step in and tell recruitment to put you to interview stage. I have done this before now for someone we wanted to interview but on paper wasn’t as qualified.

Once you’re in process though, if successful the HM then has less say in what they’d financially award you and HR get involved as then qualifications will equate to grade and pay so there is equality amongst the wider team.

I wasn't short listed for an interview when I clearly met the criteria, I rang and asked about it and it was an admin error and they'd overlooked the form and they added me in. I got the job.

I applied 7 times before I was successful in gaining a promotion. To expect to be successful on the first attempt is being unreasonable. Use the experience to learn and keep going, request a mentor if you can to help you and draw from their experience.

This happened to me last year, I didnt get an interview for the job I was actually doing (and doing bloody well). They then had the cheek to ask if I would increase my hours so I refused. Got a job doing the same thing elsewhere and laugh every time the text asking if im available/would consider coming back 😂
Ask for feedback and start looking elsewhere

Did you adapt your CV so that it was specifically targeting the role you were applying for or was it a generic CV that you sent to everyone?

I disagree with some of the posters: I think internal applications should almost always get an interview if they have been encouraged to apply. And I think they then need detailed, supportive feedback on how they can improve their chances next time.

It's an investment in the development and motivation of your staff plus it reduces the risk that they are upset by the process (and not getting the role) and start to look elsewhere - costing you money and talent.

You said yourself your manager has no say in the recruitment of the role you've applied for. I think its great that she felt you would be a good candidate and actively encouraged you to apply it means she has a great opinion of you and your abilities. Unfortunately she can't decide with the recruitment team who gets shortlisted for the interviews for that particular role. Definitely ask for feedback though

Speak to your manager, she probably wasn't involved in the short-listing process. It was likely a more junior member of the team or hr/recruitment team if there is one, and the line manager of the role. I'm sure she will speak to the LM and you will get an interview if you let her know what's happened.

I work for a large organisation so when I'm hiring for my team I often get internal applicants applying. I often encourage them to apply as how else would I know what skills and experience they have. It would be unfair to tell someone not to apply even if I didn't think they had the right experience as I have no way of knowing everything they've done.

I would always send a personalised message and offer detailed feedback to someone who had taken the time to talk to me beforehand though.

As others have said, it sounds like your CV was screened out by Recruitment/ HR. So your director will not have seen it.

as others have suggested, I’d email or message her to let her know and ask if she has any suggestions on how you could be shortlisted next time. That gives her thr opportunity to tell HR to shortlist you.

Not necessarily, tbf. DH was thinking of applying for an internal promotion (more than qualified for it) and knew someone already in that department, so asked for a bit of info. Associate said, "Don't bother, mate - the new person started last week" (when officially the closing date wasn't for another few days.)

That's the UK civil service, though, where such things are common. May be different in the OP's case? But it's rife in the civil service! Jobs are only advertised because the rules say they have to be. My DH's experience happens a lot😕

I’ve worked in an in-house recruitment team for 10+ years and am now in a different role in a different team that I would never have been shortlisted for based on my CV alone (I was invited to apply for the role by someone internally who thought I had transferable skills, which sounds similar to your situation). From these two perspectives of mine, your situation sounds like a lack of communication internally. My guess is that the recruiter has seen your CV and not deemed it appropriate for the role because it doesn’t have the right keywords or closely match the person spec they’re working to, and the person who invited you to apply has not told the recruiter to look out for your application based on their discussion with you. I’m assuming you didn’t mention it anywhere on your application either? My recommendation would be for you to pick it back up with the director 1-2-1, and then if she confirms it’s a misunderstanding and she still wants to consider you for the role, you can email the recruiter with the director copied in and explain the context and ask for them to add your application back into the process. The recruiter isn’t a decision-maker, they’re just doing their job the best they can based on the information they have

Unfortunately recruiters can only take into account what is included on CV’s/ applications in order to be fair to all candidates, especially external ones. It doesn’t matter how well you are known in a company or if you were encouraged to apply- if your CV doesn’t include all the info to demonstrate you have the skills/ experience then you won’t be sifted for an interview. Perhaps as part of your development plan you could ask for CV writing training and interview coaching so you are ready for when the next job comes up?

She wasn’t the hiring manager, therefor she didn’t have the decision of who made it through to interview or not. As a manager myself I’m regularly encouraged to interview XYZ person (I report into a Director) but actually if they’re not the fit I’m looking for it doesn’t happen. I wouldn’t allow this to put you off though, she obviously believes you’re good enough for more so apply this to future roles where she is the hiring manager or roles outside your organisation. It’s clear she thinks you have the ability to step up and do more. Good luck

You've been set up.
Your colleague, whom encouraged you, wanted to insult you by proxy.
Dust yourself off, swallow the bitter pill and be cautious on future around such colleague about divulging any person thoughts and feeling. Do not tell them you've been rejected but be vague. If you divulge they will be feeling satisfied about your result.

Where have you got that from?

Has op confirmed that?

Sounds like you are projecting. OP has not even confirmed that she updated her CV tailored for the role before uploading, so there are a few options as to why her CV was not shortlisted by whoever was actually shortlisting.

Frustrating as it is, see this as an opportunity to brush up your CV a little, and perhaps if you do get opportunity to, have an informal chat with the person who suggested you apply for the role to see if there's any pointers she could give you, or CPD courses you could do to improve your chances in the future.

It's really disheartening, and I have been in a similar situation recently; a 'friend' encouraged me to apply stating I would be perfect for the role; when it came to it I didn't even get an interview despite having a very strong CV and application and being overqualified for the role albeit in a different sector. She reached out to me to explain they had people who had already worked in the sector apply. It was a bit of a kick in the teeth tbh, but it obviously wasn't meant to be. Flash forward 3 weeks and I got offered a completely different kind of role somewhere else, better hours, better pay, and actually a better job in an area I would really like to move into! So what I'm trying to say is; everything happens for a reason, and it probably wasn't the right role for you at this time!

YANBU. Similar happened to me, first time I applied to an internal team and auto rejection and no interview. Second time not only got the job I was one of the better people in the department. Different recruiting managers, sometimes it's about your face fitting sadly. I'd look around if you want a new job and find somewhere you're valued

I expect you come across well but then did a very poor application so they removed you at sift and it does not even go via her