Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
I’m a senior manager in a niche field and have been trying to move on from my company for several years.
I have lots of experience and regularly get interviews. They involve a lot of preparation in advance and tend to be day-long affairs, where all the candidates meet and present in front of one another.
The problem is, no matter how well I or the other interviewees perform, the role always seems to go to an internal candidate. I’ve witnessed strong candidates lose out to weak internal applicants on many occasions.
I’ve spoken about this with other candidates, and we often get similar feedback along the lines of “you did everything right but we have a preferred candidate”.
I’m beginning to feel trapped, as though interviews are a fix and I’m invited purely to make the numbers up.
Due to a lack of flexibility around annual leave in my current job, every interview means finding an excuse to be off work, which is also becoming problematic.
Next time I’m offered an interview, would it be unwise to ask if there’s an internal candidate and reject the offer if so? It might help weed out the time wasters.
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
