embarrassed by boss

chloe44

Ive been working in retail for seven years with the same company. During this time i have never had a payrise, promotion or extra hours added to my contract. I have a four hour contract at minimun wage and I generally work late night and weekends when the full timers dont want to work and also Sundays as we are 'cheaper' I have recently taken over a section of the store which is making 33% more money since I have taken it over. I have received much verbal praise but I feel a raise/promotion would be fair. A promotion became available last week and I sent in a cv and was basically told by my boss it was mine and the interview process was a 'formality'. Naturally I was happy and filled out an application also and went to an external interview which many of my colleuges knew about (I didnt tell them) and I bought some new items of stock to wear to make a good impression. When I got there the interview was 10mins max and I was asked how i would feel if i was unsuccessful. Sure enough I was the job was given to someone who wants a demotion after returning from maternity leave and the job was givin to her as she had more experience. I feel embarrassed as I feel this job was always meant for her and I was put through this process to make it look fair. I am extremely angry and upset, what should I do to start a grievence procedure???

davo10

chloe44 wrote: »

Ive been working in retail for seven years with the same company. During this time i have never had a payrise, promotion or extra hours added to my contract. I have a four hour contract at minimun wage and I generally work late night and weekends when the full timers dont want to work and also Sundays as we are 'cheaper' I have recently taken over a section of the store which is making 33% more money since I have taken it over. I have received much verbal praise but I feel a raise/promotion would be fair. A promotion became available last week and I sent in a cv and was basically told by my boss it was mine and the interview process was a 'formality'. Naturally I was happy and filled out an application also and went to an external interview which many of my colleuges knew about (I didnt tell them) and I bought some new items of stock to wear to make a good impression. When I got there the interview was 10mins max and I was asked how i would feel if i was unsuccessful. Sure enough I was the job was given to someone who wants a demotion after returning from maternity leave and the job was givin to her as she had more experience. I feel embarrassed as I feel this job was always meant for her and I was put through this process to make it look fair. I am extremely angry and upset, what should I do to start a grievence procedure???

This sounds like an unfortunate situation but you cannot start a grievance just because you didn't get a promotion unless you feel you were discriminated against. To be fair, the other person was a full time employee possibly with more experience.

chloe44

I get that the other person had more experience but i feel like they knew that as they both know us personally so there was no need for me to travel across the city for an interview you know? You only pick the best people to interview so there was no need to subject me to the embarrassment of others in the company knowing I went for an interview and wasnt successful. I was also asked on the interview how I would feel if I didnt get the promotion so I kind of knew then and I got the feeling the interviewer knew too.

chloe44

I feel like the position was always for her and i wouldve rather been told that than waste my time filling in applications and going on interviews on my day off to be told she has more experience which they already knew as they know us both personally. I feel deeply annoyed and embarrassed that my time was wasted and I now have to tell people that I was unsuccessful even though I myself never told them I was going in for the job

bisset

Request feedback in writing regarding your interview performance.

Gone West

bisset wrote: »

Request feedback in writing regarding your interview performance.

Don't do this. Going down a rabbit hole with that one.

I've been the other guy in this story a number of times, it works like this:
I agree with management that a new role gets created just for me to get cross-promoted into.
very specialized skill set, nobody else will be able to do it. But they would still advertise it internally both times it happened to me. I had to sit mum as I'd listen to some colleague tell me about this exciting new promotion he/she was going for. They would have the right to interview for it, but they we're never going to get the job. Totally sucks, yes I know.

Some harsh words below:
You've been there 7 years and are going nowhere, evidenced by (1)Still on the minimum amount they can legally pay you, (2)poor contract terms, (3)bad hours, still have to work Sundays etc, (4)didn't get a minor promotion even though you tried hard.

7 years anywhere and to still be on minimum says a lot about either you or the company you work for.
You need to just quit, get a job that you can excel in.
You would be better off working somewhere that wants you to succeed and that will help you to do so.
They obviously knew they lead you up the garden path and they obviously don't think you are too bright, as they had the gall to ask "how would you feel if you didn't get it".

Unlikely you will get that or a similar promotion in your current job.
I'd say you can succeed and get that a new job somewhere else at the same level as the promoted position you were angling for. Good luck.

Stheno

Is it possible that knowledge that you had an interview for another external company went against you?

Or is the external interview you talk about the one for the promotion?

MagicMarker

I agree, 7 years in a job with no pay rise is ridiculous.

I would only do one thing, ask for a raise. You don't ask, you don't get. If they say yes, great, you can decide then if it's enough. If they say no, start looking for another job, but don't quit your current role until you find one.

chloe44

Thanks everyone a lot! No the external interview was for the promotion. I was sent to another store to a manager i never met to be interviewed. I really work hard and am constantly told theres a future for me and they want me to move up. And yet the first promotion I go for this happens. I dont mean to be big headed in saying it but i deserve a promotion as i go above and beyond what i am asked in my current role. To be honest not getting the promotion is not half as irritating as being led up the garden path and treated like an idiot

Squatman

you have nothing to be embarassed about. you went for a job and were unsuccessful at it. happened me, even in my current job. who cares. Keep chipping away, ask for a raise asap, as they are already aware you are bored in your current role, and make sure you ask, what your short commings were - ask like " if a similar role comes up, what will i need to have done between now and then to ensure that i get the job" shows that you are not infallible and willing to improve.

Mrs OBumble

chloe44 wrote: »

Thanks everyone a lot! No the external interview was for the promotion. I was sent to another store to a manager i never met to be interviewed. I really work hard and am constantly told theres a future for me and they want me to move up. And yet the first promotion I go for this happens. I dont mean to be big headed in saying it but i deserve a promotion as i go above and beyond what i am asked in my current role. To be honest not getting the promotion is not half as irritating as being led up the garden path and treated like an idiot

You're not likely to get the first promotion that you go for. Think of the first one as interview practise, so you will be better able to prepare for the types of questions they ask next time.

That said - seven years and you're still in a minimum wage job, and believing them when they way they want you to progress in the company? Really? That's fine if you were studying or something and didn't want to work full time for a good portion of those years. But otherwise, they're taking you for a ride, and you need to look elsewhere.
Your boss cannot tell you "Yeah, there's a promotion opportunity there, but don't bother 'cos Jane is going to get it" - because it's giving evidence of favouritism. The boss has to let you think you have a chance even if you haven't.

Also ... and I'm trying not to sound mean here ... but if you're embarrassed by something as trivial as this, then you're going to find what happens in the rest of your working life very difficult. People go for jobs and don't get them all the time.

chloe44

Im not annoyed about not getting the job the better candidate won fair and square thats fine. Im annoyed that my time was wasted and they couldnt have had the professionalism or the respect to make look fair. All along the process I was told 'this is all just a formality' it clearly meant were just going through the motions with you here and then to be asked 'how would you feel if you didnt get the promotion?'. I feel like that was a leading question as if to say well youre not getting it so prepare yourself. That was not on the list of questions that i was to be asked so why ask it?? In my honest opinion I wouldnt ask a person that in an interview especially if i was trying to make it look fair. I feel like I was taken on a wild goose chase and my intelligence insulted at the same time. I get that nothing good comes easy but to be told the job is yours, this process is a formality, how would you feel if you didnt get it, we gave it to someone else

GreeBo

chloe44 wrote: »

Thanks everyone a lot! No the external interview was for the promotion. I was sent to another store to a manager i never met to be interviewed. I really work hard and am constantly told theres a future for me and they want me to move up. And yet the first promotion I go for this happens. I dont mean to be big headed in saying it but i deserve a promotion as i go above and beyond what i am asked in my current role. To be honest not getting the promotion is not half as irritating as being led up the garden path and treated like an idiot

Problem is that they are always going to tell you what you want to hear to try to keep you in exactly that position.

chloe44

Im sorry for writing like a million posts but being honest Im furious!! The manager doing the hiring didnt even tell me a junior manager did. To quote her 'I dont like doing other peoples dirty work but Ive been told to tell you you didnt get the job'

Squatman

you really need to get back to the interviewer and look for interview feedback. i too would be insulted if a third party told me i didnt get a job. The third party shouldnt even know about it!

chloe44

Squatman wrote: »

you really need to get back to the interviewer and look for interview feedback. i too would be insulted if a third party told me i didnt get a job. The third party shouldnt even know about it!

Thanks for replying! I appreciate everyones thoughts on the matter... to be honest I was embarrassed my pride was hurt but now I just embarrassed for the unprofessionalism of the whole situation. And when I got to the other store staff members there knew I was there for an interview as I was left standing there for 10mins with them asking me questions about why i was there. Realistically if I went across the city to another store they couldve went to a coffee shop or something maybe Im wrong but Im facing a lot of questions as to how this interview went even though I told noone I was going for it you know. All my application details were left on the public email account for all staff members to click into and see

riffmongous

Did your boss commiserate with you after you didn't get it? I would be furious too if someone led me on like that and didn't at least offer a half apology afterwards.

chloe44

The one who told me that i didnt get it said im sorry you didnt get it i wanted you to get it but it wasnt my choice and 'politics' was a factor. The unprofessionalism of it infuriates me plus the fact that staff in two stores are going to be speculating as to go got the job and why thats really the crux of my argument really. The disppointment of not getting the promotion I can get over

Squatman

chloe44 wrote: »

The one who told me that i didnt get it said im sorry you didnt get it i wanted you to get it but it wasnt my choice and 'politics' was a factor. The unprofessionalism of it infuriates me plus the fact that staff in two stores are going to be speculating as to go got the job and why thats really the crux of my argument really. The disppointment of not getting the promotion I can get over

I reckon i would go over his head, and ask what "politics" was involved that prevented you from being recommended for the job? Wont get you anywhere, but will show that they need to be more careful about handling this processes

chloe44

Squatman wrote: »

I reckon i would go over his head, and ask what "politics" was involved that prevented you from being recommended for the job? Wont get you anywhere, but will show that they need to be more careful about handling this processes

Thanks for the advice. I get what you mean Im annoyed that I dont own a company or manage anyone and I can see that all of this is totally wrong. I wouldnt be the first to complain either a member of the public recently wrote to head office about the lack of respect they were given as a candidate. Guess I just thought after all this time i would be treated differently but oh how wrong i was ha

Bandana boy

Maybe they had you in mind for the role but when it went up somebody else applied.
this person was by your own admission better qualified for the role ,and to boot a long term member of staff looking for some facilitation around her new family.

Often I have seen an internal job put up with somebody in mind but through the interview process a better candidate reveals themself, that is why the interviews are done.
As long as the interview process was fair ,and the promotion actually existed I do not see how they have wasted your time.

Squatman

what you should be looking to do, is get the persons job who took this "demotion," or lower level job, if possible

Smartguy

They may have thought they were were doing you a favour by giving you the courtesy of an interview. Plenty of people go for jobs and get rejected but mgt like to see ambition and it also gives you a chance to demonstrate your ability. To be honest, your embarrassment suggests a lack of self confidence.

seannash

chloe44 wrote: »

I feel like the position was always for her and i wouldve rather been told that than waste my time filling in applications and going on interviews on my day off to be told she has more experience which they already knew as they know us both personally. I feel deeply annoyed and embarrassed that my time was wasted and I now have to tell people that I was unsuccessful even though I myself never told them I was going in for the job

The company may not have been aware that this person wanted a demotion. You may have been the best candidate until this other person presented them self.

the_syco

From the companies point of view, they keep the knowledge that the person who got the demotion has, is able to pay them less, and fills a position.

chloe44 wrote: »

Ive been working in retail for seven years with the same company. During this time i have never had a payrise, promotion or extra hours added to my contract. I have a four hour contract at minimun wage and I generally work late night and weekends when the full timers dont want to work and also Sundays as we are 'cheaper' I have recently taken over a section of the store which is making 33% more money since I have taken it over.

This is a separate issue. You seem to be undervalued, so instead of asking for interview feedback, how about you ask for a permanent 40 hour week "full timer" contract?

RomanGod

You've been on a 4 hour contract for 7 years?

What?

jimd2

Ask for a meeting with your boss. Tell the truth that you are very upset over how you were treated in this. It's the truth, tell it warts and all and speak from the heart.

Then while you are there lead it into how upset about how you perceive you have been treated with the examples of lack of pay rise, poor communication etc. Ask in whatever is the standard way for a pay rise to reflect your added responsibilities.

If it was me I wold also be dusting off the cv and looking for alternatives, but don't tell your boss that. Just make him aware that you are unhappy with these things.

jimd2

Smartguy wrote: »

They may have thought they were were doing you a favour by giving you the courtesy of an interview. Plenty of people go for jobs and get rejected but mgt like to see ambition and it also gives you a chance to demonstrate your ability. To be honest, your embarrassment suggests a lack of self confidence.

No it doesn't! Very easy to throw remarks like that around without any justification.

Naoko

This is very similar to a position I was in a few years ago. I was always being told there would be opportunities for promotion but in reality I was only asked to work odd days when the full-timers didn't want to and the wonderful 'opportunities' never arose. Other people speculated that I wasn't being treated well but I found that patronising as I was only there as a stop-gap before going back to college so I was happy enough. I'm not sure about asking your employer for a raise but I do think you should be trying very, very hard to find another job where there might be less idle gossip and more professionalism (the manager delegating the responsibility for her 'dirty work' would particularly sicken me). As others have said, do it quietly and don't quit until you have something else lined up. You deserve better. Good luck.