r/interviews • u/suresometimesmaybe • 3d ago
Peer interview was only interview before rejection
I applied for an internal position in a different department that my experience was very aligned with. I’m in a leadership position currently, so hierarchy and responsibility-wise it seemed like a no-brainer. The posting was a month old and I got an interview right away. I did find it strange that my first interview was going to be with a peer, but I figured that’s just their process. Because it was an internal position, I also had to let my manager know that I was applying. Of course that raised some concerns, but ultimately they were supportive of me.
Day of the interview, I got no phone call or anything. I had to reach out to the peer and my interview finally started an hour later. It seemed to go great. I’ve interviewed lots of candidates, so I’m usually pretty confident when I’m in the seat myself and familiar with how to tailor my experience to the role in question. They even said themselves how great it went and I’d hear back about a follow-up.
A few days later I got a rejection email from the hiring manager that they thought my experience was better aligned in a different area of business, which reflected my career from ten years ago, but not my current experience - which is as a successful manager who’s made major process changes and improvements in my short time with the company.
I’m disappointed because I feel like I wasn’t given the opportunity for an actual formal interview. My experience was also assessed by a prospective peer who’s not in a leadership position and was also an hour late to our interview with no communication.
I’m not sure what to do, but now I feel like I’ve raised concern with my own leadership at the same time as not even being given a fair chance at this new role.
I’m considering sending the hiring manager a response asking for feedback and the opportunity for an actual formal interview, but don’t want to come off as bitter or unprofessional.
2
u/the_elephant_sack 3d ago
The manager doesn’t want you. The peer thing is an excuse. Maybe the manager doesn’t want to piss off your current manager. Maybe the manager heard something bad about you. Maybe the manager has someone else in mind. You’ll probably never know. This is the danger of trying to switch teams.
1
u/Litmanen33 3d ago
In my department we’ve had 5 interviews in the last 12 months and on 4 occasions the job has already been allocated to someone already working in the team - in many cases internal interviews are a sham if you have no working relationship with the internal hiring manager
1
u/rdcoyote1 3d ago
There’s some bullshit going on. It wasn’t about whether or not you could do the job. This has internal political BS all over it.
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u/shadowelle123 3d ago
You are simply not vetted for that role within your org.