Hiring Practices

[Meheux]

Hi,

I work for a private company and they recently posted a position that was supposedly open in our department. The position was posted and all responses had to be in with 24 hours or close of business the following day. Several people applied for the positon including myself.

We all went through the interviewing process and we were all informed that the position went to an "external candidate" someone out side of the company. We were all baffled as to how an external candidate would know about a position posted for only 24hrs inside the department.

Well much to our surprise the position went to a former employee who had left the company for over a year. Clearly the position had been created specifically for this person and no one who applied had a real opportunity to get this position. In the employee's absence there were changes that they had no knowledge of and they were not more qualified than the employees who remained with the company.

My question is can a company post a position that doesn't provide an "Equal" opportunity for all candidates who apply? In this case none of us had a real chance at this job--the interviewing process was just a waste of time and cleary deceptive in that the job was created for this person who was being brought back to the company. It was a real blow to the morale of the department-- is this legal?

Thanks

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Hi,

I work for a private company and they recently posted a position that was supposedly open in our department. The position was posted and all responses had to be in with 24 hours or close of business the following day. Several people applied for the positon including myself.

We all went through the interviewing process and we were all informed that the position went to an "external candidate" someone out side of the company. We were all baffled as to how an external candidate would know about a position posted for only 24hrs inside the department.

Well much to our surprise the position went to a former employee who had left the company for over a year. Clearly the position had been created specifically for this person and no one who applied had a real opportunity to get this position. In the employee's absence there were changes that they had no knowledge of and they were not more qualified than the employees who remained with the company.

My question is can a company post a position that doesn't provide an "Equal" opportunity for all candidates who apply? In this case none of us had a real chance at this job--the interviewing process was just a waste of time and cleary deceptive in that the job was created for this person who was being brought back to the company. It was a real blow to the morale of the department-- is this legal?

Thanks

Please Include your state

 

[Meheux]

I am located in Maryland.

 

[Beth3]

My question is can a company post a position that doesn't provide an "Equal" opportunity for all candidates who apply? Yes. An employer doesn't have to post jobs at all for internal candidates if they don't wish to. They may hire/promote whomever they wish as long as the basis for their decision isn't a prohibited reason - i.e. the sex, race, national origin, religion, etc. of the candidates.

In this case none of us had a real chance at this job--the interviewing process was just a waste of time and cleary deceptive in that the job was created for this person who was being brought back to the company. It was a real blow to the morale of the department-- is this legal? Yes.

 

[Veronica1228]

This actually happened to me. There was a position open at my company that I wanted to move into. I interviewed for it and was later told that when the manager met with me she had already decided to hire someone else. However, she was so impressed with my background and knowledge that she ended up creating a new position for me. I did have to reapply and wait the 6 posting days (company policy) to make it official, but in the end I moved into an even better position than the original one I posted for.

My point is that even though it seems like your manager was being less than forthright, I am sure he or she went through the interview process to be fair and make sure that their decision was a sound one. If they had found someone more qualified they may have hired that person for the position and offered the newly vacated spot to the former employee.

I have seen this happen many, many times. You can never be sure what another applicants qualifications truly are (even though you might think you know). Obviously the manager was able to see something in the new hire that you don't.