Job went to another internal candidate, how to move on.

[finfitrulesok]

I was the better candidate. The other person has been unreliable. I have more experience, more qualifications, and have a lot more proof of what I have invested and achieved. I am baffled that they chose the other person. I don't want to go back in and face it all. This is such a huge set back and I am gutted at all the time and energy I invested in making sure I was ready for this role. No career progression for me now. Unsure what to do.

I am the yes person. I have taken on so many things in the past year. Whole school responsibilities, running CPD across the school, completed an NPQ, mentored trainee teachers, school governor, trips, lots of other enrichment for students, primary liaison. All with good feedback. The other person honestly does not compare. They are not bad at the job, but have been less reliable, less committed, and have less experience and less relevant qualifications. I have covered for people and fitted in when needed so many times, so I don't think I can be seen as inflexible. I have asked for feedback.

I’m sorry OP it is rubbish, sometimes it is just about who performs better on the day- I’ve watched some really incredible people lose out on jobs that I would have said they were absolutely going to get just because of someone else beating their interview on the day.

As an aside though, it could be that these extra things you do work against you. It seems like going the extra mile should help you in promotion but actually it ends up going against you more often than not because if they are already getting that extra effort from you for your current salary then they have no incentive to actually pay you any extra for it when they could pay someone else to get their extra.

This is a horrible situation to be in. I had to work alongside the other person for 12 months before I could leave during which time she was careful not to manage me. During this time I was able to see that, whilst couldn’t do some aspects of the role that I would have been able to, there were areas where she was stronger. There were also aspects to the role that neither of us had anticipated (well, I never asked her but it was an unusual set of circumstances) and I was very glad that she had to deal with it or me. It was only after I had been out of the organisation for another year or so and had sufficient distance that I was able to fully reflect and understand why she had been appointed over me.

If the other person is male and you don’t get satisfactory feedback; I would encourage you to raise the situation with HR.

No that’s not how it works in teaching.

It hurts OP. and there's probably a reason that SLT. don't want to share. It might be that you're the best damn teacher they have and they don't want to promote you away from the classroom.

Be professional, quietly drop the over and above stuff. Use the time and energy gained to apply elsewhere.

Thanks. That is sort of what I thought but a teacher at my work said this the other day. I’m support staff so different for me.

@finfitrulesok I know of someone who trumped the best candidate for the job because they effectively charmed the interview panel. They were awful at the job. Interview panels are human and liable to human failure too. It’s horrible when this happens. Don’t take it personally. All the things you have done are still on your CV and will make you a strong candidate elsewhere.

Get the feedback and look for something new.

It may very well be 'fit' vs qualifications.

For context - I've been doing a lot of interviews for roles in my team and I definitely don't always take the most qualified/experienced individual. The things I'm looking for are resilience and excellent communication skills. So many candidates I see are brilliant on paper and lovely at interview but fail to pass our test - which is essentially writing a well worded, accurate email in the correct tone and prioritising a list of tasks. If they get past the test there is still the consideration of fit.

You wouldn't have got to interview if you didn't have the skillset.

Like me, they might be looking for quite a specific set of qualities in a candidate. It doesn't matter how qualified or nice a person is, if I don't feel confident they will do well in the role in the specific team I'm hiring into then they don't get it. It would be a disservice to us both and ultimately I expect both parties wouldn't be happy in the role. And I definitely want happy people in my team!

Honestly try not to take it personally.

I've had internal applicants apply before and these are the hardest ones to say no to especially if I like and respect the person in their current role. It's not because I think you're rubbish or not nice.

Sometimes the less experienced (and possibly younger) candidate can seem
more appealing as the manager feels they can manipulate them easier into what they want. Also, if one candidate already goes above and beyond. The manager likes to keep them in place as they’re such good value for money. It’s tough, sometimes you work really hard and get penalised for it 🤷🏼‍♀️
The good news is, there’s other schools available if you feel you need a change.
Hope you get where you want to be soon ❤️

I'm so sorry - that's miserable. It's happened to me twice - and each time I've gone on to better things after a relatively short period of feeling miserable. I think you have to find another job, as it will be awful for you to stay and see your colleague do a less good job than you could.

OP can you not ask why you did not get the job? Otherwise you will always wonder why.

That may be why.

I was the yes person. I ran myself ragged doing stuff for the benefit of t

I really appreciate all these responses. They are helping me to make sense of it all.

Could it be that you're a bit too good at the job you're doing now? Or maybe the other person is better at interviews...I've seen that happen in the NHS where candidates who scored more highly were picked but weren't so good as the person rejected would have been!

@finfitrulesok well at least you know now that you wont be going above and beyond your duties! no extra curriculars, cpd training or anything like that now!

I wonder if they think if they promoted you you’d stop doing all those extras so better to keep you doing that for them for free. Schools are far too political. We have an utterly useless teacher constantly get promoted and treated so differently to others and it was all because they were trained by the deputy head. I’m sure a better offer is waiting around the corner for you.

That may be why.

I was the yes person. I ran myself ragged for the benefit of the kids.

First promotion I didn't get I was told that the other person had just performed better in interview.

Second time round I was told, whilst the HT was pissed at a colleagues wedding, that they knew I'd never leave whereas the others would so they had to promote them.

There was genuine shock when I stopped being the yes person and then left.

Drop all the extras and just do the basics of teaching the children.

Then move on when it suits you.

To further support what a PP said, it wasn’t just that they took me going above & beyond for granted but they also thought that, as I was constantly getting involved in stuff, the staff I would be managing would be looking to me for hands on support rather than leadership. They thought I would spend too much time in the weeds and not have enough time to be strategic and think about the bigger picture. I was really taken aback by this but, as I said, a couple of years later when I had got too involved in something in my new job, I had a lightbulb moment. It proved really useful feedback as, having got a more senior role elsewhere, I realised what was going on this time and was able to extricate myself before it became a pattern or something that was expected of me.

Oof, sorry to hear. I've been in the same boat and to be honest, I never did quite get past it. I was more qualified, more professional and it was generally accepted that I was ready to move up by the team. I think for me, a big issue afterwards was that there was zero feedback, even when I asked, and I found out much later that the candidate who got the role actually knew the hiring manager well personally! I complained about the entire process and did get a formal apology about it though. It was quite a mess. Did you get any useful feedback? Will there be more opportunities in future? Obviously, you need to remain professional, but do I understand how disappointing & frustrating it can be.

Hallehills
This is pretty much exactly my situation I feel. I do think they will live to regret it, but too late now.

I feel for you. The same thing happened to me. I applied for a very niche job internally, which required fluency in a European language (it’s my second language), plus knowledge of two very different areas of defence policy. I thought my interview went well. The job went to a man who couldn’t speak the language and had no knowledge of either of the policy areas, but the panel thought he would be a better fit with the team - younger than me and had a penis. I was asked to train him up. I told them to fuck off, and ended up getting a better job elsewhere. He struggled hugely without the language and jacked it in after six months because he found the learning curve too steep.

What’s your sick policy like? I’d be tempted to take as much time off as you can with stress and see how they manage without you!

You’ve listed all the ways you are better than them.

Is there a list of attributes they have over you? Because I can think of some for everyone I work with. Strengths they have that I don’t, even people I think are poorer candidates. And think of whether they may have been something management wanted.

I was a successful candidate once over a more experienced and ‘better’ worker. It was because I was more ambitious for change in the organisation and full of optimism and outside the box thinking. She did leave but before that we worked well together for months. Knowing where we ended up, I was the better choice. But not at the time.