Passed Over for Promotion? Elaine Varelas advises on overcoming it
You may feel you’re the most qualified candidate, but when your company passes you over, it can be difficult to look beyond the perceived slight. However, it’s imperative that you don’t shut down, but rather reach out to your manager and organization for an explanation and any developmental opportunities they recommend. Elaine Varelas of Keystone Partners explains what may have gone on behind the scenes and offers ways you can stay top of mind for future positions.
Q: I’m the backup for a role that was vacated a while ago that would be a promotion for me. I applied and interviewed for it, but they passed me over for someone else. I feel so discouraged. I haven’t gotten any negative feedback, so why would they do that when I’m already trained and performing the role?
A: Not receiving enough feedback to understand why someone thinks you’re not quite right for a position can be very discouraging, particularly if it’s for an internal position. Telling someone candidly why they weren’t selected for a job is a challenge for most managers and human resources representatives; they don’t want to provide so much negative feedback that you leave the organization, but they also know they should give you concrete development opportunities to help prepare you for the next promotion or internal opportunity.
Often people in a role looking at a promotion only see the components of the job that they’re capable of doing, because that’s all that the manager gave them. The reality is that there may be a full spectrum of responsibilities you may not have been presented with because management did not want to give them to you and watch you flounder. There may even be broader communications and ripple effects in the role you were playing backup for that you’re unaware of. The person they selected likely has the capabilities to handle those broader responsibilities.
Management and leadership are looking for a comprehensive skillset. Someone who can not only perform the job, but can also design the job. Someone who can improve it, streamline the processes, or maybe address more digital solutions. The candidate they chose may have all of those skills and experience, and while you’re getting into the basic responsibilities of the role, they’re looking to expand it. Some positions are filled for only the current responsibilities. Many more positions are filled for the current responsibilities with enhancements in mind, which is why they may choose someone with different skills and experience than what you have demonstrated to them.
Try to focus on improving your skillset, both hard and soft skills, instead of being focused on why you were passed over. See if you can learn from the person new to the job and develop the kind of skills that will position you to take his or her role in the future. Have a candid conversation with that person about wanting to learn more from the experience and wanting to continue to develop the contributions that you can make to the organization.
Even without any negative feedback, you can get courageous and go to your manager or HR to generate a conversation saying, “I’m disappointed I didn’t get the opportunity. I see the skill set that this new person brings. I’d like to develop my skill set to be ready for the next opportunity for a promotion.” Most organizations would commend you for having the courage to talk about the developmental opportunities that you’d like to take part in and welcome the fact that you want to continue to make contributions.
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