Fed job - not selected

[Anonymous]

A couple of things stand out to me in your post, from the perspective of a federal hiring official.

There are usually weighted factors that applicants/applications are ranked in before their applications reach the selecting official. You view your breadth and depth of experience as being the clincher over the selectee's specific experience in one program area. However, specific experience in that one program area might have counted for more in the ranking factors -- it could have been as much as 50% or even higher. Whereas broad depth of experience might have counted for only 20%.

You also say that all your performance appraisals have been at the top of the range and you have received performance awards. That really counts for very little, OP. Most candidates who reach the "Best Qualified" list are in that position too. It is certainly not unique to have a slate of candidates who are outstanding performers with yearly awards.

Choosing between a candidate who has proven and ample experience in the subject matter area and a candidate who has broad good experience -- I don't see why you would be the obvious choice here, OP. And that would be what you would have to prove. You can't just say that you would have been a good choice. Virtually everyone applying for a GS-15 is a good choice, except for one or two duds. That's why a GS-15 is so hard to get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this on another site but wanted to get the perspective of this community)

I have been a fed for over 7 years. I recently applied for a position and was not selected. I would like to see what are my potential options to request a reconsideration. The position is a grade 15 and would have been a promotion from my current grade. I believe I am more than qualified for that role. All my performance appraisals have been at the top of the range and I have received an average of 2 awards per year for my contributions. The new role is something I have been doing for a very long time in my fed job as well as before in the private industry.

I realize that sometimes positions are 'wired' for a particular individual and it seems this might be the case for this one. The person selected already works for the selecting official. I've know that person for a while and has many good qualities but the experience is limited to a specific area and does not have the breath or depth of experience I can provide.

I realize that some people might think 'tough luck, get over it' but my request for advice is for that scenario where indeed a person was selected not necessarily for their skills and abilities but rather because they were better known to the selecting official.

Do I have any recourse or is this one of those cases where there's no much that can be done?

bottom line, OP- You're not that great. Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

Most people applying for a GS-15 have been in government for 10-15 years. 7 years is not a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:(I posted this on another site but wanted to get the perspective of this community)

I have been a fed for over 7 years. I recently applied for a position and was not selected. I would like to see what are my potential options to request a reconsideration. The position is a grade 15 and would have been a promotion from my current grade. I believe I am more than qualified for that role. All my performance appraisals have been at the top of the range and I have received an average of 2 awards per year for my contributions. The new role is something I have been doing for a very long time in my fed job as well as before in the private industry.

I realize that sometimes positions are 'wired' for a particular individual and it seems this might be the case for this one. The person selected already works for the selecting official. I've know that person for a while and has many good qualities but the experience is limited to a specific area and does not have the breath or depth of experience I can provide.

bottom line, OP- You're not that great. Get over yourself.

Sounds like the selected candidate, while might not have as much specialized experience as you do, is younger and has more POTENTIALS at GS 15 level than you do. The system works. Get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a GS-15 and have sat on both sides of the table when it comes to selection. One of the things that you need to let go of is the concept of being the "best," because what they are looking for is the best fit for that job, at that particular time, with those particular coworkers, to tackle the goals and problems they are having at the moment. It doesn't mean that the person selected is better than you in an abstract sense. It means that for many reasons that will never be known to you, they were persuaded that that person was the better fit.

It isn't easy to get a GS-15. You may have to interview for several before you are selected. You absolutely can raise a stink and say that you think that the person who got the job isn't as great as you and that the hiring manager was biased. But from what you're telling us here, I don't think you have enough information to make that case. And if you don't, then you'll sound like a jerk, like you are insulting not one but two people (the selectee and the hiring official).

My advice is to be classy about this, if at all possible. You could send the hiring official a note that you're sad that you didn't get the job but do want to learn from them as a manager, and that you'd like some mentorship. You could congratulate the selectee and tell them that you're there to help, and mean it when you say it. But if all those things seem too difficult, then 1) to be totally blunt, you don't need a GS-15 because at that level you need to be all about the needs of the agency and much less about yourself, and 2) you should just stay silent until you can accept that other people can make compelling cases for why they should be hired.

Do all of this.
If you really want to develop your career, wait until after the holidays, and then shoot the hiring manager an email and ask to meet up. Tell him you're interested in learning more about his group, and would love the opportunity for some mentoring/coaching. You can even bluntly ask him what he thinks you should do in the future to increase your chances of being hired.
But don't do any of that if you can't let go of the idea that you were some how treated unfairly.

[Anonymous]

I think you need to let go of this job opportunity. Not everything goes the way job applicants want. There are reasons within and above that are not obvious to others.

HOWEVER, I do think in the replies above are some great ideas. Why not start informational interviews with people you admire? Why not make yourself available to interagency work groups, mentoring opportunities, and the like? The more you learn about other groups and other groups' needs, the easier this process will be the next time around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't just about every fed job, particularly those GS-11 and above, written for the person they want to hire, with such absurdly specific qualifications that there's no way it's a fair and open process?

No. That's just not true. While it's true it happens, I wouldn't say "just about every" by any means whatsoever. I got 2 positions in the last year (switching agencies once, and the 2nd was a promotion) and I didn't know anyone in either group. Additionally, a friend from my previous agency was promoted to a group with which she was not acquainted and another took a lateral to another agency where she didn't know anybody, and got that job in addition to another offer the same week. These were all GS13 and above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you need to let go of this job opportunity. Not everything goes the way job applicants want. There are reasons within and above that are not obvious to others.

HOWEVER, I do think in the replies above are some great ideas. Why not start informational interviews with people you admire? Why not make yourself available to interagency work groups, mentoring opportunities, and the like? The more you learn about other groups and other groups' needs, the easier this process will be the next time around.

How to arrange these informationals without bugging the crap out of the manager?

[Anonymous]

Bwahahahaha!!! Feds.