© 2022 Fairygodboss. All rights reserved.
Boss Won't Promote Me
Hey all,
I have been at a media company for a year and a half now as an office manager. When I first applied at this company, I applied for the Digital Content Specialist position but they had extended an offer to another candidate just before they received my application. My current boss called me in for an interview for Office Manager. She said I could help with the digital side suring my down time and down the road there'd be opportunity for growth. Fast forward to now. The "down the road." That applicant they hired just before me has accepted another job. I immediately expressed to the head of Digital as well to my boss that I would like to be considered for that open position. They were both on board and had me submit my resume and portfolio. I had a lunch interview with the digital manager last month that I felt went well but haven't heard anything else about it since. She actually said on the interview that I didn't have any skills missing for the job description and she thought I'd do really well with it. I took a vacation day this past Friday. I had it scheduled a few months ago. When I got back this past Monday, a member of the sales team informed me that my boss, the digital manager and the CEO had met with one of the applicants from outside of the company for a second interview.
I guess since I'm an internal employee, I expected more transparency with the job search. I felt it very sneaky to schedule that meeting on my vacation day. I understand they want to explore all their options by interviewing other candidates. But, do you think I should receive preference or some sort of grace because I'm an internal candidate? I've been waiting at this company for a growth opportunity and my boss knew that and I'm more than qualified for this digital position. Unfortunately, if I do not get this digital position, I will probably leave this company. Since I did go to school for digital marketing and I don't want to remain an office manager for much longer. I feel like I'm wasting time here.
Kim Callinan
President & CEO of Nonprofit
809
08/20/20 at 4:20PM UTC
Since it's been a month since your interview with the digital manager and since he communicated with you that you would be a good fit for the position, it would be reasonable to follow up with him or HR to check in on the status of the job.
I would be careful not to jump to conclusions as to the motivation of the company or view them interviewing other candidates as sneaky or assume the timing was intetional. The company's job is to hire the best candidate for the job. While it is customary to give internal candidates preferential treatment if all things are equal, that does not mean that they will skip a competitive interview process and/or that they will keep an internal candidate informed of every step in the interview process.
In your case, it's unfortunate as it does seem like you are being strung along, but avoid jumping to that conclusion there could be other explanations. Instead simply inquire about the status of the job, next steps in the process, and ask whether there is anything that you could do to strengthen your application. If you don't get the position, then you will want to find out why and use that as an opportunity to grow.
In the meantime, I would dust your resume off and be prepared should you end up not getting the position. The good news is that your skills are very much in demand right now. Since you have a degree in digital marketing and can show some experience in this area from your current job, it should not be difficult to find another job relatively quickly.
Good luck!
© 2022 Fairygodboss. All rights reserved.