Didn't get offered secondment

[Lightuptheroom]

I work in a small team, I've worked there for nearly 6 years. Progression in the team is very poor as vacancies rarely occur or they just offer the role to someone directly. Recently a secondment and a permanent position became vacant at the same time which I'm well qualified for. I interviewed for the role (for some reason they seem to have split the two roles so that you only actually interviewed for the permanent position OR the secondment, not both - exactly the same role just different length of contract)
I received a phone call yesterday that I didn't get the secondment and then later discovered they had offered it to a colleague from another team.
It's a niche role, I know for fact they the other colleague has no experience in what we do. They didn't consider me for the permanent position.
I don't know what to do. I now have to face the rest of my team and 2 people who will now be giving me instructions on something they know nothing about.
My managers attitude yesterday was that she wants to give feedback and eventually book a 1:1 to supposedly discuss 'development opportunities ' (unfortunately management speak for more workload disguised as professional development) I'm struggling with cost of living on the salary I'm on and as usual the union will be arguing about our pay rise until November.
Somehow I have to get my head around sitting in a 1:1 whilst she preaches at me (she unlike me is climbing the career ladder and earns over £60k so has very little insight into reality of people's lives)
So, how do I do this? Find another job ? I feel like I've been kicked in the teeth.
Paste a face on and get on with it?
I feel tired and extremely fed up.

I am so sorry to hear this. It is so tough when things like this happen, especially internally.

I would get the feedback, see if there is anything there you can learn from, but also start looking at new opportunities externally. Speaking from experience, I think in these situations it's really easy to want to jump for the first opportunity to leave, but I would weigh up the pros and cons of your current job against anything that you are applying for so that you make a decision based on what you want/need rather than a desire to get away from your current situation.

Good luck with it all.

Thank you. At the moment I'm struggling with even walking into the same room as the rest of my team as it will be obvious I didn't get the job. They did this to a lady in a more senior role and she eventually left as she had to sit there watching someone 'manage' her with no experience after she'd been with the team 20 years.
I just don't know what feedback can achieve , it was a 30 minute interview with a different departmental manager and two of my team, I suspect it literally boils down to interview skill. How can 5 bloody questions cause this much pain... All is says to me is that they want me gone

Something like this happened to me, I was asked to apply for a secondment, that eventually morphed into a permanent role, and the hiring manager didn't actually want me there for the permanent position, only the secondment. They went through the motions of interviewing me, but it was never going to be offered to me, the hiring manager gave it to his mate. Death knell for me wanting to stick around in that team, let me tell you. It took me another year to leave, my salary jumped by 30% when I did, so I have no regrets in the end!

Sorry you are disappointed, OP. How easy would it be for you to get another job? If you feel you're stagnating in your current job and that's unlikely to change now you've missed out on this opportunity to progress, maybe it's time to update your CV and put yourself out there.

I know you’re disappointed but getting the feedback will help you understand your options and your opportunities.

Hi @Lightuptheroom that's tough. I've been on both sides of this situation- as a recruiting manager filling a vacancy and secondment post, and as an applicant.

You really must get feedback. You're surprised and shocked that you didn't get the secondment, so it's important to find out why, what's missing from your skill set."Development opportunities" is how to fill these gaps.

Not getting the role might not be about your technical expertise - you might need people management skills, a wide network, comms & engagement, familiarity with xyz software - find out what's missing and work on it. There will be something, probably quite nuanced, that you havn't thought of. Honestly, is your skill set that unique?

Going forward, never turn down an opportunity to act up or get involved in something a bit different - deeper, wider, different to what you usually do. Take up your manager's development opportunities. You never know where these things will go - I nice chart a board that grew out of a comment I made at a meeting where I represented my department because no one else was interested. It will be hard work, but pushing your grade always is.

As a manager, it's different filling a secondment than a permanent post. Secondees need to hit the ground running fast. What can they bring to the role? What will they take away, how will their parent team benefit on your return, having been a person down?

And as for facing your team. Smile and wave. Shrug and accept that the best person won. Be nice to the people managing /instructing you, and get on with your job. Don't for goodness sake criticise the decision to give the job to someone else. (Not openly anyway!).

@Boater please explain how. There are no other opportunities on my team. Every single 1:1 my team manager makes noises about development, training etc and it never happens because the team are snowed under.
Team manager is going on her own secondment for 3 days a week , meaning that she's line managing 2 days a week, she's never got any time available as it is. As I say her grasp on reality is extremely slim. I'm expecting to be told of some 'great' opportunity in a different team that I don't want to move to. My team manager is well aware that I don't have the option to walk away, occasionally there are part time vacancies in my team but it's just not an option for me.
I'm stagnating because the salary isn't increasing and up until this interview I was being asked to take on more and more because other colleagues simply don't have time to do it, unfortunately our team manager is a very poor manager of workload and thinks that can be solved by swooping in when everyone's morale is on the floor.
It shouldn't be difficult to find another job, I'm 'just the admin' who was being encouraged to progress to the next grade, all the while being told how perfect I am for the job they've given to someone else. Recently I haven't even been shortlisted for admin roles on other teams as they say they are making extremely short shortlists!
Oh well, nothing to be gained by dwelling on it

Please don't go into the one to one with this attitude. You will sounds sulky and immature.

You are hurt tired and frustrated. It's absolutely understandable.

Go and ask for a clear path forward. You want to be on such and such a place by this time next year. What can the two of you do to make it happen. Honestly I know it's hard but it's worth it.

Your manger is probably run off her feet as well (regardless what you see day to day) offer solutions not problems. And good luck

@Lightuptheroom because if you choose to look for an external role having feedback on how you interview will be helpful so you address any development points.

Im not sure why you say she hasn’t got a grasp on reality - just her pay?

Your manager wasn’t always in this role surely, at some point she earned way less and worked her way up. So she would have a full grasp of what it takes and you can learn from her. I get your disappointed they felt the other person was more suited skills wise ( it’s not about just experience) but deciding your manager is some form of wealthy ignorant person I’m not sure is showing you in a positive light.

If you’re in the UK and have worked there for 6 years continuously as an employee you’re already probably ‘permanent’.

sounds like time to seek a change of employer.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads I appreciate what you're saying. I have requested all of this and it never happens , everyone is simply too busy..
My skill set isn't unique at all, more the documentation, systems and information we have to use is very particular to the job. In fact I'll have to train the new person on one particular system as they don't know how to use it and have never done so.
I don't get opportunities to 'act up' - they recently started a part timer doing the same level as the secondment, I was supposed to be sitting in on the same training as her , yet they simply completed her training without even telling me she'd started and just said the team manager hadn't passed the information on.
The other problem is that I'm at the top of my current grade and spinal point, so extra work doesn't mean extra money!
Unfortunately there is no way the person they've appointed can hit the ground running , they are going to have to do months of shadowing and even working out where different documents are and how these are completed (which I'll be expected to teach them)
The person who got the job is also my friend so that won't change.

And I obviously don't intend to sound sulky etc, just incredibly hurt.

@Lightuptheroom - it sounds like you might work for the sane organisation as me. Are the initials EA?

Can you access your line managers Outlook calendar? Be proactive, make an appointment for feedback.

Will you have a half year review? State what you want to go there - "I'd like to shadow xxx team/sit in on yyy board etc".

If you don't have formal half year reviews, then make another appt to speak to your line manager after you've reflected on your feedback.

Or look for another job.

@Loopytiles I've been in the same organisation for 10 years, 6 with this team.
@Lampslights no, she's been 'fast tracked' through the organisation, her management style is asking others to help her achieve a very time poor target and then moving on to a higher role.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads no lol
We have 1:1 every month, quarterly catch ups, 6 months reviewed you name it (it's local government so they love all of that) Each time my future training is mapped out, the team manager has a reason why it doesn't happen, we've even had a completely new system to learn on the fly as there's no formal training.

You will have to quickly get over it and go in with a "they've chosen who they thought best suited" attitude. It's not about you being rejected it's about them being accepted. Don't piss on their chips. Just head down keep working - apply for other jobs.

Sometimes other people just do better in interviews. I think there can be an element of managers already knowing who they want in a role as well. Its disappointing not to be offered a promotion, especially when you feel you were more suited to the role than the person who got the job. I’ve been there. But I think it’s important to appear gracious about it, even if you’re quietly pissed off. Focus on your next steps, which may mean looking to move to a different employer for progression. Your manager is working her way up, so surely she has insight into the reality of things.

In not mine, but my bf's similar experience, the 'development opportunity' was to take on the responsibilities of the role you didn't get, train and show the ropes to the person who did, but with no pay or recognition...

Please don't take this the wrong way, OP, but the vibe I am getting from your posts is that you are not very proactive. It sounds like you think you should get these opportunities because you've been in your post for a while and it's your turn. You think your manager should be making sure this happens. Meanwhile new joiners have come along, done the training you thought you were going to be doing, and are now moving ahead of you. The squeaky wheel gets the most oil. Were you regularly reminding your manager that you were supposed to be doing that training and asking when it was scheduled for? Or did you just take it for granted that it would happen? Although I completely appreciate how annoying it must be to have to train up people who have overtaken you and been given opportunities you wanted to use systems and learn processes you have already mastered, perhaps those weren't the most important skills your manager was looking for when deciding who to give the roles to. Maybe they think that the things you do competently are things anyone can learn to do quite easily, whereas what they need for these roles is someone with a bit more drive and initiative. If you're at the top of your salary band then you've most likely been there a while. Perhaps these other people wouldn't have stayed as long as you have. Perhaps they'd have been banging the drum about promotion and finding out exactly what they needed to do to get it years ago. Or perhaps they would have moved on to a better paid role elsewhere.

I think it's really important that you seek feedback with an open mind, and I hope your manager is honest with you.

A good manager will not give an opportunity to someone just because it's their turn or they've been waiting the longest, if someone else is a better fit. Because that's not how you attract and retain the best talent.

When I was working in the civil service I was encouraged by my manager to apply for a promotion which he thought I was ready for even though I hadn't done the requisite number of years at the same grade. His manager (with whom I had never worked directly) refused to consider my application because she said it wasn't my turn yet. She then said to me, "Don't worry, Miss Scarlet, your time will come." I smiled sweetly and thought, "Yeah it will, sooner than you think, because I've just accepted a job offer somewhere else and I am handing in my notice tomorrow."

This sounds like the classic they won't promote as you are too good in your role. Some being are good at 'doing' others seem to be picked out for management and it's not always obvious why.

IMO the only thing to do in this situation is look for another job. I also wouldn't be going out of my way to train the new person and I certainly wouldn't be taking on extra work.

Honestly OP I know you are hurting right now but how you’ve approached and reacted to this may well be a reason you haven’t got the secondment.

Im a fairly senior manager. I have a more junior member of staff (by several grades) who thinks because they have the best SPAG they are best suited for a promotion. She asks me where her development opportunities are rather than approaching me (or indeed her manager or her manager’s manager) with a proposal, expressing an interest in a topic or area etc. zero initiative, zero get up and go. Zero insight. She is ok at her current role but has shown no indication she’d be any good at (or indeed enjoy) the one above.

Please please take the feedback. It will be invaluable.

Oh I know you don't. I have been in your shoes. Just try and not let the manager see it in the one to one. It won't help.

Big smile and how are we going to move forward form here

Honestly OP? Leave. This happened to me - they take you for granted and its too tempting for management to think oh we could keep her where she is as shes really good, she won't leave... AND have a new person as well! Leave, the people who end up on high salaries these days jump every 2 years. The only way to teach companies to value loyalty is to show them what happens when they don't.
When it happened to me i had a new job offer with weeks on a higher salary still than the secondment would have been, and it then opened the door to new opportunities. Within 2-3 years id doubled my salary and when i look back i wish id moved sooner!