I work for a company that takes an incredibly long time to hire people into really important positions leaving no time for training...

Anonymous

May 25,2023 at 6:27PM UTC

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I work for a company that takes an incredibly long time to hire people into really important positions leaving no time for training...

This is even when the obvious move is to simply train internal people to take over. This leaves no time to train people to transition into your position or train for the next higher position.

Here's where I come in. I was hired to take a pricing analyst position. I knew about the position a year beforehand and that the lady was going to retire soon. She is also the only one who knows her position at all and has done it exclusively for 40 years. I volunteered to sit with her and begin learning her job so I could potentially take it over. Cut to 9 months later, I'm asked to formally apply then another 2 months later I get an interview and get the position. The woman had to stay an extra month post retirement to help train me after all of that wasted time. I have crash coursed my way to figuring out all the in's and outs of her position after training for only a month. Proudly, I am now pretty efficient.

My ultimate goal was to become a Controller for our division and learned 3 months ago that our current controller was suddenly retiring in August. I asked about internal movement to fill his position because naturally me and two other people would be a natural progression to take his place. I had started studying for my CPA certification and applied when his job posted online 2 months later. Two months after that, I have heard nothing so after talking to a career coach/therapist about my plans and how my last position barely had any training she encouraged me not to follow through. Today I e-mailed HR thanking them for the opportunity but withdrew my application. It is then that I learn I was in line to sit down and "discuss" the position with the hiring manager about the position. This is with 2 months of training available left to fill this man's position. I think I was in the right to back out of this possibly damaging opportunity?

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AnonymousMay 25,2023 at 7:14PM UTC
I say follow your gut.
Just because something is available and you are inclined doesn't always mean it will make sense.
AnonymousMay 25,2023 at 8:34PM UTC
I'm baffled that your career coach / therapist would tell you to withdraw your application. It sounds like you're highly educated and bring a lot of experience to the table. And you're trainable and can pick up tasks quickly.
You also knew that this organization is notoriously slow with their hiring. It seems to me that the two month quite time was actually nothing out of the ordinary for your employer, but rather their M.O.
Why would your career coach/therapist think this was a damaging opportunity? Respectfully, I'm not sure I would have followed this advice. You withdrew your application before the process even got started and have eliminated yourself from consideration. I might consider looking for a new career coach.
AnonymousMay 27,2023 at 3:06PM UTC
I had a year of training to take over the controller position at my last job. I my case, I did not have my CPA. Even after that year, due to the prior controller being so secretive, there were still things that I had to learn on the fly or that she still took care of from retirement. I agree that 2 months maximum is not going to be enough time unless he has SOPs for absolutely everything he does, which should be a requirement at that level of position. Unfortunately, a number of companies don't see the benefit of SOPs and don't require them.
If they are just starting the discussion phase now and plan on talking to more than just you, it is probably at least another month out before they put someone in the position which more than likely isn't enough time and the new person will not be able to perform to expectations.
There is something to be said about hiring slowly to cut down on turn over but that means to not take the first person that is conscious and can pass a drug screen. It does not mean to go so slow that the person can't learn their job. When I left my first full time job, the company bought in a temp to take over the role on my last day. My last day was a half day. I felt so guilty because this person broke down crying due to stress over getting no training. It wasn't my fault, it wasn't hers, it was a company that dragged their heels for weeks only to decide to bring in a temp instead of hiring.
AnonymousMay 30,2023 at 2:19PM UTC
Thank you for this reply. I really appreciate the insight. I know I made the right decision.