When the person they hired is way less qualified than you

[Anonymous]

Can I vent? I applied for a job in February, in fact, I posted about it here! Had a great day of interviews with the team on Tuesday, CEO said she was looking forward to working with me, on Friday afternoon I get a curt email saying "We've decided to go in another direction, good luck" and that was that.

Just saw on LinkedIn who they hired and she is significantly less qualified than me. Also they were hiring two people for the position, so they definitely could've hired me and this woman.

Just frustrating, I guess.

[Anonymous]

I've had this happen before. Once was because it became very clear that they wanted to train the new person to do things only the way they wanted, so someone with less experience could be more easily molded.

[Anonymous]

Their boss chose a friend.

[Anonymous]

Here's the thing - no one is 100% perfect across all parts of the job. You might be the best pick at four skills, and in your mind, those might be the most important by far, but maybe there's another skill that they think is critical that they think the other person is better at.

For example: I've gotten a bunch of tech jobs because of my communication skills. At the end of the day, you can teach a tech person additional tech skills (like, it's not that hard to learn a new coding language if you can code, this was pre AI obvi), but it's impossible to teach someone to communicate well with the accounts team if that's something you think they're not great at.

It's impossible to know their calculus.

Better luck next time!

[Anonymous]

Maybe they were cheaper

[Anonymous]

Like PP said, they could be connected or they could be cheaper. Maybe it was interview vibes. Try to not take it personally, though I know it’s hard.

[Anonymous]

When I was first starting out, my father, who seems to get smarter the older I get, said to me when I told him, "why was so and so hired and not me, my resume can run circles around him", "that has nothing to do with it. It's true, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I vent? I applied for a job in February, in fact, I posted about it here! Had a great day of interviews with the team on Tuesday, CEO said she was looking forward to working with me, on Friday afternoon I get a curt email saying "We've decided to go in another direction, good luck" and that was that.

Just saw on LinkedIn who they hired and she is significantly less qualified than me. Also they were hiring two people for the position, so they definitely could've hired me and this woman.

Just frustrating, I guess.

Assuming you're accurate that the person they hired was significantly less qualified, was attractiveness a factor possibly? What about nepotism?

[Anonymous]

It's a sign that it wasn't a good fit because the org doesn't value whatever skill set you have.

[Anonymous]

Maybe they found her a better fit for reasons that you don't understand/can't see/aren't willing to accept.

[Anonymous]

That sucks, OP. The worst is the CEO comment (ill-advised, or not).

Might just be one of those where you have to leave to be appreciated. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I've had this happen so I know how you feel. The person hired instead of me turned out to be a dud. I don't know why they chose her. I don't have an answer but I think it happens a lot for a variety of reasons. I've also been on many hiring committees and there are often capricious reasons why some people get selected, especially the higher you go and when there are candidates of basically equal quality and it's a difficult choice. Or there is some final word from a higher-up who negates the hiring committee's decision.

[Anonymous]

My experience is that at a lot of organizations in order to be recognized and promoted, you have to leave first and then maybe come back, but that doesn't normally happen because once you've been burned, you don't wanna come back. The CEOs "good luck" message is really insulting and I would take it to mean "dont let the door hit ya". For a current employee seeking an internal promotion, you deserved more of an explanation and an affirmation that you are valued. The fact that you weren't given that says to be, they probably don't value you. Is it possible they don't want to promote you because your supervisor doesn't want to lose you in the role that you currently have? Because it's more of a hassle for them to rehire and train?

[Anonymous]

Some hiring managers are insecure. Sometimes such people will not hire someone they perceive as too competent. They fear their boss would realize the manager is less capable than the new hire.

It is a crazy way to run a railroad, but it happens now and then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My experience is that at a lot of organizations in order to be recognized and promoted, you have to leave first and then maybe come back, but that doesn't normally happen because once you've been burned, you don't wanna come back. The CEOs "good luck" message is really insulting and I would take it to mean "dont let the door hit ya". For a current employee seeking an internal promotion, you deserved more of an explanation and an affirmation that you are valued. The fact that you weren't given that says to be, they probably don't value you. Is it possible they don't want to promote you because your supervisor doesn't want to lose you in the role that you currently have? Because it's more of a hassle for them to rehire and train?

Is OP an internal candidate?