Passed over for permanent position

exiledelbows

right here goes...

I started working as a temp in an office (in UK) nearly 2 years ago now and have been asking about a permanent position in any meetings i've had with my team leader for the last year - when a permanent member of staff left and was replaced by another temp. Every time I asked about it I was told 'a few months, a few months' but it turns out there was a hiring freeze in place for all of last year. Two permanent positions were finally advertised late last year and I interviewed last week. While I thought the interview was mixed I still felt I had a great chance as of the five internal candidates that went for the job(from what I can tell they only interviewed internally as there isn't room for a new team member) I'm second most senior (by less than a month) and already quite high up in the team hierarchy, with quite a lot of responsibility and industry knowledge.

So I had a meeting with my manager Friday who informed me I hadn't been successful. That's fair enough I thought, the interview wasn't brilliant, except he told me he thought my interview had actually been excellent, and that my productivity and time management had been the reason I hadn't got it. Now these issues had been mentioned occassionally in passing in my meetings with my leader (separate person) but at no point had he said that they were a problem or they may affect my chances of going for a permanent position. He had just said it was something to keep an eye on and had openly encouraged me to go for a permanent position.

Also, the productivity line is a bit misleading as a lot of the work I'd be doing is unquantifiable, as I have been there longer than some of the newer temps (at least one of whom has got the position I was going for) I have responsibility for correspondence and training etc, which means less time for doing the quantifiable aspect of our job.

I'm just feeling really deflated at the moment - I feel I've wasted a year of my life waiting for this opportunity and I miss out on it. In the past (before the hiring freeze) my employers made people permanent who had literally threatened to walk, and I kind of feel they're just keeping me as a temp cos I'm not the type to throw my toys out of the pram. It's going to be really difficult seeing at least one person, and possibly two people that I have trained (and am still training) getting these positions while I'm still kicking my heels.

I don't want to seem like a moaner just cos I didn't get it, it's more the reasons that have upset me, and also the fact that from feedback from my co-workers I seemed a dead cert to get the job.


I really don't know what to do.

I think I should ask for another meeting to fully outline the reasons I didn't get the job as I was a bit dumbstruck today and didn't really ask anything (e.g. why did they bother interviewing me if, by the sounds of it, they'd already made up their minds). I'm also wondering about quitting, but there aren't really a lot of other jobs around at the moment.

Sorry if this is quite longwinded, just needed to get it off my chest. Any advice would be very welcome.

Sleepy

Not trying to be harsh but from the sounds of things you didn't take the hint when your manager told you that these were things that needed to be kept an eye on and this is the result.

Unless you've something else lined up, I'd advise sticking with it and working on the areas you fell back in before applying for the next lot of permanent positions.

the_syco

exiledelbows wrote: »

my productivity and time management had been the reason I hadn't got it

Agree with Sleepy. Seems you being late and/or bad timing in general has gone against you. Pushing the issue may backfire (the may get a bit stricter on the "time management" issue), so be carefull how you thread.

mood

Also bear in mind that the best person doesn't always get the job. However, take their advice and improve in the areas the fell down on. I wouldn't bring it up again.