Disillusioned in work after not getting promotion.

[Stressmess]

Ok I have been in my current job for over a decade. I applied for promotion last year. This is civil service and it was an opportunity for all staff at the administrative grade to move up a grade. Went through two rounds of testing and then a competency based interview. I worked on this interview for weeks, knew my competencies, had what I thought were good examples and thought that the interview went relatively well. Ok it felt like a punch in the stomach when I got an unsucessful but I accepted it. This week lists were published with the successful candidates and there were a lot of them. I just feel like I have been punched in the stomach again. There were people on the list I wouldn't even have considered.

I just feel in work undervalued and that I have been overlooked. I came back recently after holidays and find myself procrastinating in work and not really wanting to be there or do anything more than I have to. This is so not me. I was so motivated going for the interview and thoughts of moving up and bettering myself, I now just feel completely deflated.

I know it is easy to say move on or try again but these opportunities don't come round very often. I have a child with SN and my dept have been very good about letting me reduce my hours and take time off for appointments, so this is a benefit I don't want to lose. Anyone else been in my situation?

Did you ask for/receive feedback at all?

First step is to seek feedback from the promotion competition. If possible, could you also ask one of the panel to discuss your performance?

I recently sat on a promotion panel (civil service t&c's) and you could really tell the difference between those who had had lots of interview prep & coaching beforehand and those who hadn't. It has very little to do with your day to day ability or potential. In our place the better you are at BS, the more likely the chance of promotion, regardless of their day to day performance. It's wrong, but that's the way it is.

I would also speak with your manager / head of branch to ask if there is anything you could take on to give you more experience for the next round of promotions (although be careful of falling into the trap where you are consistently doing the work of a higher pay grade without the recognition or recompense). I think if you can try to show your manager that you are still keen (even if you feel demoralised at the moment) then there is a greater chance of being considered if any acting up opportunities arise.

I feel for you - I went through similar earlier in the year, and felt gutted as I was sure I had done a good interview and in fact scored really badly. I took it so badly I couldn't even read my feedback, so it is a matter of do what I say, not what I do.

Certainly ask for feedback, and sorry you didn't get it

Speaking as a disabled person myself, do you think your requirements regarding your DC may have influenced their decision? Do any of the other candidates have similar requirements?

Ask for feedback and make a subject access request for their interview notes and consult your union if you are in one.

I speak from experience - any kind of adjustments needed could make you unfairly viewed as less loyal or hardworking.

JaneBond, the OP will not get other candidates' interview notes under a subject access request.

Been there and it is so painful! Even down to the less competent colleague getting the role - before that time she used to ask me for help on a regular basis! But you have to hold your head up high and work through it. Can you reinvent yourself in some way? Take on slightly new responsibilities? I found that it helped. I eventually left and went on to another role elsewhere, which has proven rewarding and probably a better fit for me anyway.

The thing to remember is that we are all human and even the most supposedly impartial recruitment process is subject to some human prejudice - it might just be that those people were better at the process or chimed with the interviewers in some way.

For what it’s worth, my colleague did carry out the role successfully - she was paired with someone who had a complementary skillset and she sort of grew into it. Clearly there were aspects of her skills that I could not appreciate at the time, but which the process identified! I had certainly developed new respect for her by the time I left the organisation.

I meant the notes the interviewers took @NigellaAwesome

Ok janebond, that makes better sense!

You don't need to go through the process of requesting information under a Subject Access Request to know what was written on your Interview Feedback.

As a Civil Servant, you are given the right to request access to promotion interview feedback via phone or email, by one of the panel or someone in HR.

I've been both successful & unsuccessful in Civil Service promotion boards & I came to the conclusion that how well you can do the job pays hardly any part in the promotion process. It is how you fill in the competencies on the form & how you then put competences across in the interview. You could have lots of examples for each competence, have been doing the job you are applying for unpaid at a lower grade but if you can't put it down on paper in the correct format, using the buzzwords that are in fashion at the time & get those buzzwords in to your interview speech, then you don't stand a chance. That is why so many candidates get positions they are wholly unsuitable for. Don't think that because you have failed a promotion board it reflects on how you do your current job, it doesn't, treat it like a game, you have to be able to play their rules to get the job.