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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be annoyed work posted this job in this way?

181 replies

7stripybaskets · 18/02/2026 12:31

I’m on annual leave from work this week for half term by chance I logged onto our companies’s intranet.
There is a job advert for a job within our department that I wasn’t aware of this would be the next step up from my current role there is 8 or so of us in a similar role to mine that would probably want to go for it. I haven’t been told it was coming and it’s advertised for internal department applications only and with an opening application window of 4 days which closes today. So, obviously they had someone in mind which wasn’t me but I think that’s not good practice for half of us that are off with children this week it was a well timed way of reducing applications I suppose. I feel really demotivated I suppose.

OP posts:
Dinnaeeatallthecheese · 20/02/2026 16:04

Bjorkdidit · 20/02/2026 14:38

If your employer goes through this whole charade, ie require people to apply for 'a job vacancy' in order to progress, as opposed to making the decision in a sensible way such as observing you do your job day to day, good appraisals etc and thinking 'she's a good employee who's outgrown her current role, she deserves a promotion' and that is it, then applying for new jobs and preparing for interview absolutely is 'work' as opposed to something you should be doing in your leisure time.

Ballacks it is!
Have you actually got any idea of how equality laws and recruitment actually work?
😂

40YearOldDad · 20/02/2026 16:07

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 20/02/2026 15:24

And for the umpteenth time, nobody is saying that vacancies shouldn't be advertised during school holidays. All that's required is to allow sufficient time from the advert being placed to the closing date for applications. If the organisation has policies designed to level the playing field for groups with protected characteristics, then they should be implementing them, not just paying lip service to them, and that means giving everybody a realistic chance to apply. If managers are advertising posts with such a tiny window for applications that most eligible people won't even see the advert, never mind have time to put in a decent application, the policies are a waste of time. We might as well go back to the bad old days when a manager picked a favourite, with no objective criteria applied at all. Guess what, that will mean that women of child-bearing age will fall even further behind men than they currently are.

Do you not think a lot of these policies are already in place for that very reason? I've seen many times firsthand what's happening in this post. I can also see the people who have benefited from this happening, trying to justify the practice, when in reality they wouldn't have a cat in hell's chance of competing.

Changedname9999 · 20/02/2026 16:29

helpfulperson · 20/02/2026 15:11

But this is presuming that most parents have children who go to the same school or in the same area. Half terms vary widely. If you have staff who work in England and staff who work in Scotland (which is possible with WFH) their half terms could be 3 or 4 weeks apart.

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Where I am from half term is same for most/all schools. My workplace is emptied of all parents with young children that week. It’s like a ghost town.

BringBackCatsEyes · 20/02/2026 16:38

Changedname9999 · 20/02/2026 16:29

Where I am from half term is same for most/all schools. My workplace is emptied of all parents with young children that week. It’s like a ghost town.

Show quote history

How much AL do they get? Most people don’t get AL to match school hols.

Changedname9999 · 20/02/2026 16:39

BringBackCatsEyes · 20/02/2026 16:38

How much AL do they get? Most people don’t get AL to match school hols.

Show quote history

Between 25 and 33 days AL + 10 Bank Holidays. That can be taken anytime.

Changedname9999 · 20/02/2026 16:41

Changedname9999 · 20/02/2026 16:39

Between 25 and 33 days AL + 10 Bank Holidays. That can be taken anytime.

Show quote history

I am a Project Manager and have to plan ahead for very little to be done during half terms.

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