Didn’t get the promotion

[mormonmartini]

I’m with a non profit start up. Everything in my department has been built from the ground up by me. E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. The money would have been life changing for me and my children. It it would have been double the pay I’m making now. The other candidates have no work in this field but do have masters degrees. I will be expected to “train” the person who will now be my supervisor. I interviewed for this position on the 18th and was told me presentation was great. No negative feedback was given. I directly asked Tuesday if a decision had been made and was told there had not been. This evening I found out via an automated chatAI generic email sent to all rejected applicants that I did not get it. I really really really feel like accidentally deleting all my spreadsheets. I’m so pissed.

****update: I was right- they selected someone else and didn’t bother to tell me. Even today my director was trying to hide in her office. They said my interview was great, my presentation was great, I’m wonderful at what I do, ect ect ect. They said the only reason I wasn’t selected was education. I am proud of myself because I told them if that was the case they need to pay for my degree and they are now connecting me with their finance department to get it worked out. I smiled, will take their free training/ get my degree and get the f out of here. They offered no apology and kept looking down when speaking about it. Couldn’t even look me in the eye.

 

[jennifer1987]

@mormonmartini Not getting the promotion is one thing, but you should have been given the courtesy of face to face feedback.

Put your efforts towards a revamped resume and job search, do what you need to do ti get the new person up to speed, and work towards moving on.

 

[mormonmartini]

@jennifer1987 Yeah the not getting the position sucks but the fact I found out via generic hr email is insulting.

 

[jjwampler]

@mormonmartini I work in a NP startup as well. We have 8 employees. The CFO is basically HR, bookkeeper, office manager, etc, etc. We all wear many hats. I cannot even imagine getting an automated rejection email at a startup Nonprofit… they don’t deserve you, move on!

 

[mormonmartini]

@jjwampler Yup I’m one the original 14 that started

 

[jjwampler]

@mormonmartini Have you always worked in NPs? I was corporate for 15 years, not sure if I’m going to stay here. It’s definitely not for everyone. Do you know if the board was driving this hiring decision? I know that when we write grant proposals linked to programs, we basically have to justify how “qualified” program staff is to run these programs we need the funding for.

 

[tony2468]

@mormonmartini Hi, sorry you didn’t the promotion this time. You’ve done the right thing to ask for more feedback. Does your company have an appeals process? I’ve appealed twice when I was knocked back for promotion and was successful twice. In my sector (higher education) the processes are not transparent and often bias against women (especially those with caring roles). Keep advocating for yourself, hang in there. I know it’s tough, but keep going. You will break through, find a way around, and/or a new path. Good luck!

 

[mormonmartini]

@tony2468 Thank you for this

 

[22absolutefreedom22]

@jennifer1987 I wouldn't bother trying that hard to get the new person up to speed. The company wants to take it's valuable employees for granted, teach them a lesson

 

[mac101263]

@mormonmartini I’d be livid. Here’s a helpful phrase to use when you’re being asked to train your “supervisor”: “I’m not really sure—I defer to your expertise on this.”

 

[mormonmartini]

@mac101263 Ha! That’s going to be my go to!

 

[mulungi]

@mormonmartini When you get push back ask for a raise at a minimum. I'd ask for a 10k min raise if a supervisor came into my dept.

 

[mac101263]

@mormonmartini Politically neutral with just enough of a fuck you lol

 

[gratefulnyc]

@mormonmartini This is not uncommon for companies to do. They consider you too valuable in your role to promote you, so they deny you promotions to keep you in your role. Been there done that.

FYI. When you give notice, because you’re going to get a fantastic, better job, they will suddenly offer you money and all kinds of perks to stay. Don’t accept because it means they could have offered you this stuff before but they didn’t.

 

[adryan]

@mormonmartini Honestly find a new job (yeah I know easier said than done) and tell them that they hired the person they can train them since obviously you are not qualified to do so since you did not get the job. Upon your exit interview (if they bother) lay it all out. List every thing you did for them. Go hard. And don’t look back. Companies who do not value their employees do not deserve to keep them.

 

[mormonmartini]

@adryan I’ve only been there 6 months (like I said start up) but I’m going to go ahead and start putting feelers out there. I’m really trying to get myself together before I go in tomorrow because right now I’m googling “what’s the most passive aggressive way to say if this is the way you do business this is not the place me”.

 

[thuy0358]

@mormonmartini I think most hiring managers (especially in nonprofits) would understand a short stint somewhere if you said “I helped stand up this organization, but the direction it’s heading is not somewhere I can grow long term.”

 

[katrina2017]

@thuy0358 Wow can you write all my rough emails? I love your phrasing

 

[soulsearcher57]

@mormonmartini I worked at this one startup for 3 years. Starting about a year in every six month review I would get "you're doing a great job and if you do xyz over this next period you'll get promoted" where xyz was constantly changing. Eventually I talked to my department head who said I needed to "lead a high impact project" which I had done on multiple fronts. When I turned in my notice with that department head we spent the first ten minutes going over all my responsibilities and who knew anything about what I did and could possibly take over even temporarily (spoiler alert: not really anyone). When asked why I was leaving I straight up pointed out that we'd just spent the past ten minutes going over all the stuff I did, the fact that no one else was prepared to take it over, and yet I'd just spent two years being passed over for promotions due to lack of leading high impact projects.

It was highly satisfying and I'd recommend against going for passive aggressive because of how satisfying directly saying it is.

Also as long as it's not a habit, 6 months at a startup isn't a huge red flag these days. Just talk about how it was a great experience helping to establish blah blah blah but you feel like it's growing in a direction that doesn't align with you.

 

[followerofjesus]

@soulsearcher57 Upvote! Upvote!!

There’s no reason to be passive aggressive when you can be politely direct and firmly hold your ground.

There’s more value in them clearly seeing their mistake than deducing your feelings about the situation via passive aggressiveness.

Last thought here, while your company deserves to be left high and dry it’s not the person who got selected’s fault, so I wouldn’t burn that bridge directly. Who knows, they may be a valuable part of your network/sponsorship later. I would not be afraid to be up front with them about your situation but take the high road, it is more likely to pay back dividends later.

Unless it’s some douche who is as shady as the company promotion policies, then forget everything I said above.