To wonder if anyone has ever had a job earmarked for them?

[SnugShaker]

I’ve heard of situations where a job is advertised but it’s essentially made with someone specific in mind. Sometimes, it feels like the best candidates in interviews are just part of a formality, and other times, a job is put out there so a particular person can apply. And then, when that person does apply, the job mysteriously gets closed.

Has anyone had this happen to them or am I just being paranoid?

Happens all the time - in fact DH is about to start a role that this happened on.

He is an expert in a particular system in use at this company. They have a policy that all roles need to be advertised externally, even though he's one of only a handful of people in the world that know this system. Yes, someone else could learn it, but it would take a couple of years of intensive training to get up to his level.

It happens all the time in my workplace, not so much for externally advertised more junior roles but the higher you get the less chance of getting something as the candidate is often pre-selected. They want to show that there was competition though to avoid legal challenges, especially since most chosen candidates are men.

My place is toxic as fuck though I’m sure other places aren’t as bad (although a relative in the civil service says it’s bad there too for people being pre-selected for roles).

No, but I did once apply for one of these specially created jobs and get it!

It was a new role. hlHeadteacher in the school didn't see the need for it, but the governors had insisted. She'd written the job description entirely to suit someone she wanted to slot into the role, to the extent that some of the things didn't seem to fit. I should have known when I asked at interview what a certain thing specifically meant in the context of the role, and they said it wouldn't concern me!

Anyway I got the job. The head quickly came round to the view that she didn't know how she'd ever managed without the me/the role. The unsuccessful candidate hated me and tried to undermine me with the head, who she remained very close to, for 4 years.

A colleague had her role earmarked for her.They put the advert up for a couple of hours then took it down.

This happens all the time, particularly in the public sector.

Yes I have. It’s very annoying that these jobs are advertised though. Wastes other people’s time usually.

yes. I was a medical secretary and I had been covering a job for a few months when it came up permanently, it is well known that the person doing the job gets it as there is no stress with a new starter and the person knows what they are doing. Seems this is normal in the NHS

I’ve been on the short end of the stick, where this happens they have to be seen to be going through the process of advertising and interviewing. I went for an interview, it was quite late about 5.30pm. I’d prepared well, even bought new make up. I felt the interview went well. As I arrived the postman was leaving the office, I saw the office lady hand him their outgoing mail, she actually said here’s today’s post and he put it in his bag.

My rejection letter arrived at 7.30 the following morning.

I've had jobs created for me, twice, and often been headhunted. At one point I'd not applied for a job for 30 years, but had half a dozen different employers

Yes, it happened to me, but I insisted that the employer didn't advertise it as it was unfair to waste people's time. I was working for a firm of accountants. One of our clients was growing fast. Initially, I was going one day per month to do their management accounts, and a couple of weeks per year doing their annual audit and forecasts. Then their needs got more and I found myself there one day per week, then two days per week, and a whole month for the year end. The owners offered me a permanent full time job on ridiculously good terms that I couldn't refuse to become their finance director. They were going to advertise it, as they were under the misapprehension that they had to advertise all jobs, I put them right on that and asked them not to advertise so as not to waste people's time in applying etc. Thankfully, they agreed. I didn't have to threaten to refuse their job if they advertised it, but I would have done. I've been at the other end, and wasted too much time doing applications and interviews for jobs already promised to someone else. A lot of it really is the employer misunderstanding the law and thinking they have to advertise - that may be the case in parts of the public sector, but there is no such law in the private sector!

Yes, this sometimes happens in the public sector. The chosen one doesn't shine at interview and another candidate scores higher, so has to be offered the role. Such is life!

Our council this week advertised for a planning officer only for internal employees. I laughed it's such a toxic department, outsiders soon become disillusioned. The job description bears no relation to the actual responsibilities. The salary scale is much better than usual though.

Yes it happened to me in the public sector. I was in a job was happy in, but I was looking for a promotion. A sideways move job came up, and I wasn't interested as I wanted a step up. I was called in by the line manager and head of department and asked to apply, which I did. Delivered a mediocre at best interview but still managed to land the job.

It was the same money as the previous role, but less enjoyable. It also soured things going forwards for me because it exposed what a sham "fair and open" recruitment was. I'd seen how if they wanted you they'd make sure it happened, and knew that unless I got invited to apply for something in the future I wasn't in with a shot.

Happens a lot in the public sector where they need to be seen to be having a fair recruitment process and everyone having an equal opportunity to apply. Then someone internal /someone who previously worked for them applies and gets the job.

I do know of a case where a school created a role for someone particular on staff (they worked part time and wanted to go full time, another “half” role was created just for them), but in the end the person who it was created for decided they didn’t want to do it and so didn’t apply. They let their line manager know but there was some confusion with staff off sick and HR accidentally continued with recruitment and hired someone else. Was all very awkward, solved only by someone else in the same team resigning and a bit of jiggling of the role being offered to the new person happened. I don’t think the new person ever realised.

also sadly DH spent ages applying for a role in his company, only to be told they’d decided not to create this new role after all. All was fine until he found out that they had been hoping to attract someone particular from another company, but they didn’t bite. Would have been nicer if they’d just got a head hunter to approach the other person and never bothered to announce it.

Yeah. I went for a job interview i was well qualified for. Took a day off, bought a new outfit,.got myself all prepped and psyched up and the lady doing my tour told me that a junior colleague had applied and they all hoped she would get it, then she smiled sweetly and opened the door for me to go into the panel. I was so annoyed!!! This is a lot of years ago and I am STILL annoyed Leeds Metropolitan University!!!!!

A vacancy came up where I was working. A few days later, the manager of that team accosted me in the photocopying room and said they were sorry that I hadn't applied for it. I explained that I didn't want to increase my hours and it was full-time, and that was why I didn't apply.

They asked how many hours I worked and I told them, and said I was looking to reduce my hours a bit further.

A few weeks later, a near identical post in the same team and on the same grade was advertised, but for 4 hours pw less than I was then working. I applied and got it, but it definitely wasn't earmarked for me. It involved a test of technical knowledge, and I got the highest score out of the 6 candidates.

Yes the role was written for me based on my CV and the hours I wanted. I was still very nervous at the interview that someone more qualified would get it 😂

I applied for a job knowing that it was earmarked for someone else. I didn't really want the job it was more about me angling for a promotion within my current role. I got a promotion.

Happens all the time - especially if someone is being sponsored to work in the UK. You legally have to advertise the job on a certain number of platforms for a certain length of time to "prove" that the person being sponsored is the best person for the job. I'm from NZ and had been in my job for 2+ years on a visa, when my visa changed and my employer offered to sponsor me, they had to advertise my role even though it was my role. I thought at the time (and still do) that it's a crap system as it means people who are never going to get the job put time and effort into applying.

I have got a job aimed at an internal hire twice. So it's definitely not always given to the person it was aimed at.

No, you're not being paranoid. I've been the person earmarked, lost out to an earmarked person and in the days when I worked for an organisation that forced us to go through the motions to appear we were taking an EO approach to recruitment, I've had to put people through the time wasting charade of applying for a job I knew we had the perfect internal candidate for. The person had proved themselves, deserved the promotion, and there was no appetite to take a risk on an unknown in preference to them. Yet still it was insisted upon that we 'went out'. Now I have more authority over the process there is no way I'd advertise a job if it was earmarked. Waste of everyone's time.

I've got more than one job this way where I was covering the role or a very similar one. I'm not sure how I feel, I get that on the surface it seems fairer if you advertise to anyone but I'm not sure it's worth all the time wasted for other applicants.

In the NHS I remember once receiving an email from HR circulated amongst all managers asking us not to waste their time and request elaborate assessment centres if we had already decided on who was going to get the job before the actual selection process!

Four or five post here mention that this is time wasting. And whilst yes it wastes time, I wish employers would also consider the expense. I had 3 interviews in London for a role this year totalling almost £100 in cost -3 train tickets at £20 and parking at £8. They then decided on an internal candidate.

I'm still looking for another job, so job hunting is going to cost me a few hundred quid this year- not just time

Was this less common back when more employers paid out for things like the applicants train fares?