where are they now: update #9 – hiding internal interview from current manager

by Alison Green on December 22, 2009

Remember the reader who didn’t want her current manager to learn that she was interviewing internally for another position?

Here’s her update:

The supervisor never found out about my internal applications, but it took a while before I could work with those particular departments again after they didn’t hire me. They were pretty thick with how qualified I was and how happy I would be in the job, but then I didn’t get the job! I eventually found out that they did not want to hire me away from our overall director. AND I found out that others across the organization (on a campus) felt the same way and I wasn’t getting interviewed for that reason.

I ended up taking a different job in August 2009 with an entirely different part of campus and I’ve been told that I am now welcome to reapply for positions that earlier I was not invited to apply for. It makes me really upset that my director had this type of power over others not even affiliated with our unit and has led me to question the ethics of the institution. Of course, since I’ve been in this job I tried to interview/apply for another internal position, my supervisor found out, and I had a greatly awkward conversation. She now brings it up every chance she gets, questioning my loyalty, and I am now left looking for another position more discreetly.

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  1. Sara G*

    I'm glad the writer found a new job, but how frustrating the situation. I wonder if they had let that original boss know they wanted to transition, if that boss may have endorsed them, and perhaps even helped in securing the role… but it's hard to go back and know how things could have worked out.

    I too have found applying for other position internally has caused damage. Even an employer who suggested I apply for openings, still turned things around on me questioning my loyalty. While I was not successful in the internal interview, and even though they recommended it to me, I found I was outcasted from that same manager. If you have any successful tips on how to move on in your career and work internally (without a promotion) please post! I'm sure lots of us could learn!

  2. Anonymous*

    Where I used to work, all internal interviews had to be approved by your supervisor.

    So of course none of my interviews were ever allowed to occur.

  3. Anonymous*

    At my company as well, you are required to tell your supervisor that you are interviewing for an internal position.

    I am wondering though how much time has passed since taking the new position and interviewing for yet another. I can imagine your supervisor would not be happy if you took a position and then started looking for another almost immediately.

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