WWYD? Colleague got job went for!

[Lushmetender]

I applied for a role in another company. Turns out a colleague also applied and got it. She has just recently started in that role. In the meantime they said I’d be suitable for another role which i went for and the interviewer said I am in the running but now I know I’d need to report to my former colleague. We were both peers and reported to the same boss however she is incredibly aloof and hard to get to know
Despite 3 years working alongside each other. Also she had her team taken away from her as she got bad feedback from her team for not
Holding 1 to 1s and not developing them. I’m keen to leave my job but not sure if I’d want to report to former colleague. If she has a say I might not get it anyway . WWYD?

Are you desperate enough to leave your job to suffer a bad manager in a new one?

I would withdraw my application for the job and say something bland about the role not being quite right for you. Don't mention her at all. You already know that she'll be a bad manager so steer clear.

Actually, don't even withdraw your application, just wait to see if it's offered and turn it down if it is.

This happened to me and it wasn’t a good situation. I ended up leaving after 6 months.

Well, that isn't going to ever go well and it is likely that you will be the one that ends up not happy so I'd withdraw.

I once walked into an interview to find out the person that would have been my manager had just been appointed and was in the room for the interview, just not taking part and I decided there and then it wasn't for me. I never wanted to report to her.

Unless the new job is an offer you can't refuse that's worth taking a risk on (huge salary increase, brilliant company to work for or something), I would keep looking if you know she's got such a bad track record. Don't withdraw, just make a decision if you're offered it.

On the other hand, how big is the team she'll be managing? If there will be a few then there's a higher chance that her poor management will be identified, rather than reflect badly on you, if that makes sense, plus there might be more sources of support from team mates. If it's just you, or a tiny team reporting to her then I wouldn't consider it, for your own reputation. Suppose it depends on how badly you want to leave.

So she is aloof and hard to get to know (not essential to be best mates with a colleague) and you've heard some office gossip.

If you want the job, apply for it. Even if the colleague was a bad manager before, doesn't mean she will be again. And you might end up in a different role anyway.

It isn’t unusual for one person to get a promotion and find themselves more senior to people that used to be peers. I do think this is something that most working people should be able to deal with. Also I don’t agree that because somebody didn’t manage well at one point that they never will. They might have been inexperienced and needed to learn about managing.

So I wouldn’t write it off, unless you think you definitely don’t want to work with this person, in which case I would decline but without giving the real reason.