Fed job - not selected
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Anonymous
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(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? |
Anonymous
| Oh yes, file a grievance, clog the system. |
Anonymous
Actually, I rather not. I realize there's a difference between not being happy about it because I was not selected and not having a real and fair opportunity because the selection was most likely made even before it was posted. I'm wondering about the second scenario. |
Anonymous
| 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? |
Anonymous
| What makes you think that "reconsideration" is an option? It's not like a promotion where theoretically you are considered against a fixed set of standards. This is a job vacancy. Someone else got it. End of story. |
Anonymous
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You cannot request a "reconsideration." As I understand it, you do not think that your nonselection was due to your race, gender, national origin. etc. So the EEO route is off the table.
You think that you were the best qualified for the job, but that the other person got it because the other person knows the selecting official. To the extent that you think the process itself was manipulated to give an advantage to the other person, you could go to the Office of Special Counsel and make a complaint of a prohibited personnel practice. They would do a preliminary investigation to see if anything was wildly out of whack. It seems unlikely (and INCREDIBLY unlikely if we are not talking about a competitive service job.) That seems like a really bad idea. But you asked if you have an option, and that is it. |
Anonymous
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The person selected was already an employee. They're just getting a raise. Thus no net employee gain. They probably don't have the money to hire you plus the individual.
Personally I feel bad for the person trying to compete for their job. They were prob already doing the work but boss wasn't allowed to promote them without going through usajobs |
Anonymous
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Even if the job was wired, management probably did everything they could to ensure they are covered if those who weren't selected decided to file a grievance.
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Anonymous
You stated the selectee had very specific experience, where you had a greater depth of experience. How do you know whether the selecting official is looking for the specialized experience. This may be why the other person was selected. |
Anonymous
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OP here:
I should point out that the job is within the same agency, just a different group. The new position is for an enterprise level role that also includes inter-agency work. The person selected pretty much only works within the same group. Having said that, it does makes sense that the manager was looking for an opportunity to promote the person after all that person has been on that group for a long time. There are some very good points mentioned that makes me think about this in a different light. I would like to turn my original inquire around, and instead think about the next opportunity. In the past while applying for an opening I have waited to be contacted and restrained from reaching out to the hiring manager. I wonder if it would be appropriate to be more assertive and let the manager know about my strong interest and qualifications. I always send a thank you email/note after an interview but other than that are there any recommendations on what to do or not regarding reaching out? |
Anonymous
Many hiring managers may be afraid to engage with any applicant during the hiring process, for fear of committing a prohibited personnel practice. That being said, if you know the hiring official, calling or stopping by in person just to let them know you are interested int he opportunity can not hurt. You could also send them a copy of your application package directly. (Some might be leery of creating an electronic record of communications outside the process.) Your best option is to try to find out about upcoming opportunities BEFORE they become official vacancy announcements. People are more generally free to talk at that point. OT even if you do not know there is going to be a vacancy, develop relationships with the managers int he office you want to work, and even tell them you would be interested in doing that type of work some day. |
Anonymous
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Also - reread your application. Have you considered using a private resource to help you apply? My DH was doing it himself and then got some coaching from a friend.
He was got the interview and position - it was not wired for him as he is coming from a different agency and the acting was not selected. |
Anonymous
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Know the culture in your agency. In ours, if a vacancy comes up, you are supposed to contact the contact official and set up an informational interview. If you don't, it's seen as not really being interested enough to want the job.
However, our jobs don't go through USAJobs, either. |
Anonymous
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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. |
Anonymous
| PP, that's all and good if indeed the selection process was based on fair and equitable criteria. Unfortunately in real life GS15 position selections are primarily based on who-knows-who or who is part of a 'specific' demographic. |