Eric Jelle ⋅ Burleson, TX U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 8 years served

Thank you to each of you who have replied with insights and positive feedback. I agree with many of your points.

To clarify, my direct supervisor is, in fact, also the regional director AND the hiring manager and was on the telephonic interview panel. I have had a few weeks to reflect and examine from different angles this particular scenario and it dawned on me - he has been with our Federal Agency just as long as I have (4 1/2 and going on five years next May) and he is also a USAF Veteran (Officer who didn't make it to O-3 from my understanding) but was promoted this past summer from GS-11 to 12/13. This makes me want to delicately ask him how he has the rights/privileges/responsibilities of the degrees he has displayed on his wall to qualify as the incumbent for his current grade, but I with similar degrees, years more military experience, and actually more time managing and supervising. in two corporations, practically the exact same kind of operations this federal vacancy was for than even he had coming in to run all of the departments in our region. It needs to be a innocuous approach, if I even want to get the answers needed - I may eventually get these from the OIG request I initially made for more clarification on how these decisions are weighted by factors in the announcement or a Congressional inquiry if I want to take it that far. Today I had to advise him of an update on another promotion front and just inquired when the selected person's old position might be announced which at least shows I am still interested in moving up to help fill key positions regardless of this first confusing decision for his first leadership promotion.

Did I mention the confusing e-mail he sent out after the person accepted the position? The person who was selected is all of the sudden being moved to instead supervise a department they worked in for their first decade or so with the agency and that department's supervisor (who didn't even apply for this vacancy) is being laterally shifted into the open slot. Everyone I have mentioned this to asks "Is that even legal?" It sounds shifty at best and I welcome input on that too. Another minor detail is that I was the only applicant who made the best qualified cut in the initial weeks following the deadline and they sent the list back to HR to add more applicants for interviewing. That seems to speak another unadmitted truth to the actual comparison between the two interviewees who both had over 20 years more federal service than I do and both had a total of over 35 years with this one agency. The fourth applicant wasn't from the local area hence the telephonic interviewing.

Louis Schwarz ⋅ Somerville, NJ AIG ⋅ 43 years experience

Hi Eric, You are in a position and a lot of individual are in. More good news, is it may happen to you again, that's life.
For now, forget the old job declines and focus on the new, have a positive attitude when you move to the private sector. As John said, performance is usually rewarded, but you must always do more than expected, or you are the same as everyone else, so why choose you. Everyone is looking for the consistent above expected performer. Be that individual.
You can't change the past, learn from it. You change to a positive, can do, no excuses force.
Good Luck..

Pamela Sullivan ⋅ Seattle, WA HealthPoint Community Health Centers ⋅ 26 years experience

Hi Eric, After working so hard for your employer, it must be incredibly disappointing for you to not be selected for this promotion. I am not familiar with the structure of your organization and how people are promoted, however I have some thoughts that I hope you will find helpful. It is not unusual for internal candidates to seek feedback when not selected for a new position. The advice you were given above about seeking to understand what you may need to do differently in an interview or perhaps the skills or experience that you may be missing is very good advice. Seeking feedback should be perceived as positive and developmental. If done well, it won't be seen as sour grapes. If there is an HR department, I recommend that you ask for the opportunity to meet with the HR recruiter and get some feedback about what you did well and where you may need additional knowledge, skills or training. If it truly came down to years of service (seniority), ask the HR recruiter if that is the main driver for promotions and then you will know if this is a place where you want to continue to work. I also recommend that you leverage your relationship with your current manager and ask him/her for some feedback about what you can be doing differently when applying for a new role. If you have a great relationship, you may want to consider asking your manager for their support when being considered for opportunities. Is your manager willing to contact the hiring manager and give an unsolicited recommendation? Is your manager advocating for you for that next promotion? You won't know unless to get some direct feedback. In the end, I recommend that you continue to be professional and work to the best of your ability until that next promotion or you decide to change employers. I wish you the best. Hang in there! Pam

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

Just saw this on LinkedIn.
How can 3 Highlighters - 1 Green - 1 Yellow and 1 Red Help in Your Job Search

It can be difficult reading a job description and trying to determine how your background - skills - knowledge and experience aligns with the requirements.

A good method I've used is to create a visual representation is by using colored highlighters to highlight those parts of the job description that directly align with my background. When I'm done, I can visually see where I might stand.

My strengths and weaknesses specific to that job description are now clear and I can then use this information to plan how I might respond to certain questions.

So, I use Green to highlight those areas where I have direct experience, Yellow for those areas where my experience is transferable or where I'm close but not an exact match and Red for those areas where I have no direct or transferable experience - skills or knowledge.

Now, once you understand how well your background aligns with the job description you can create strategies to make sure you point out your strengths and also use the understanding of your weaknesses to develop strategies to over-come those potential issues.

It is absolutely important you be honest with yourself - only then can you create interview and discussion strategies and planning to have successful interviews

By the way - No person has ever or will ever be born who could do this and be all Green

Try it - see how it works for you

Jerry Welsh ⋅ Middleville, MI Master Military Transition Advisor/HPS GPO ⋅ 30 years experience

Have you followed up to find out why you were not given the position. For instance maybe there was a veteran with 30% disability in the process and the hiring team was required to take that individual. If asking in a non-threatening way, many times you can find out what you were lacking that the hiring authorities wanted. I do not want to echo the above comment, but the GS system can be a strong "old boy" network and they may not want a veteran in. The recent push to mandate veteran hiring in the federal system has caused some push back. Honestly without finding out what you have missed in the positions, you will not be able to correct it. If you think you have been discriminated against because of your veteran status, you can contact the VETS representative of the Department of Labor. Personally, I would push for the "need assistance mode" and see what information you can get back. Have you been making it to the interview stage in all those job searches? If not you should of asked what was missing in your application, resume that kept you from the highest qualified? A post evaluation will be the best determination.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

Hi Eric -

I think you may be expecting too much from the government. The government is a bureaucracy and not a profit center. You may find better success and better advancement in the private sector where performance is usually rewarded based on merit rather than favoritism because, if not, you can vote with your feet and move on.

In the private sector, the free market determines winners and loosers based on actual performance; whereas , in government, you are pretty much stuck with the hierarchy in place where winners and loosers are chosen by the powers that be. If your private sector company produces a widget or provides a service, and consumers like the value they receive, the reward is automatic as more and more consumers buy that item. In government, its all about the kingdom of the ruler regardless of the merits of the product or service.

Good luck.
JG