Do internal candidates always get the job?

PlutoinCapricorn

I have known many cases where the internal candidate got the job, and an equal number where an external person was chosen. There is a good case to be made for both choices: internal people are not unknown quantities and may need less training, but external people may bring in fresh ideas, contacts, new skills etc.

In my experience, the more senior the position, the more effort is made to ensure that it is widely advertised and goes to the best candidate.

Witsend_2

I went for a job in the final stages it was between me external and an internal candidate I got the job.

I have since been a part of the interviewing team and have turned down both internal and external candidates as unsuitable due to their experience and attitude.

So go for it and very best wishes

dickydonkin

Something else to bear in mind is that around 80% of job offers are given to someone 'in the know'.

i.e. - not what you know - but who you know.

BTW the above statement is not assumption but fact.

cassie55

dpassmore wrote: »

Something else to bear in mind is that around 80% of job offers are given to someone 'in the know'.

i.e. - not what you know - but who you know.

BTW the above statement is not assumption but fact.

Well it's not a council so that's not an issue

I know it's who you know - unfortunately, depsite spending hours on LinkedIn.com, I can't find a connection to the hiring mananger and no one that I knows has any connection with the company.

CCFC_80

Probably a silly question but if someone internally applies for the job and meets the criteria for the vacancy then why do companies need to advertise it externally also and probably waste most of those peoples time who are applying for the role externally. To me it makes no sense !!!!

Edit. Just thought and I expect someone is going to say equal opportunities etc and they have to advertise for every candidate to be considered. However if someone was good enough within the workplace then they could just bypass the application process and just offer the role straight to them.

mountainofdebt

I have to be honest I don't apply for council jobs as like Dave I really do believe that the interview process is just to tick the legal requirement boxes - in my experience anyway!

OP - I got a job where I was up against an internal candidate but boy did I know it and boy did I know it! Management failed to back me up when trying to deal with his attitude and I only stayed a few months in the post - worst time of my life!

fluffymovie

I would just add my 2 pennethworth on the Council job side of things.

I recently went for a Team Leader job at another council (already work for one) and was unsuccesful. I was told the other candidate had more experience but that it wasn't an internal candidate. 2 days later, I saw an assessment officer job advertised so putting 2 and 2 together I cynically think it was the internal candidate.

My husband also works for another council and has been for 2 jobs with other places and both of those went to internal candidates. One who had no experience of a whole side of the job but who was 'in' with the interviewing panel.

I realise that this might sound like sour grapes but in my own personal experience, I know that from both interviewing and from applying myself, if it were a council job with specific skills (my case Housing Benefit and my partner, investigation), it has gone to an internal but as I say, my own personal opinion.

I wish you the best of luck with your application anyway (particularly as it isn't a council job!! )

dave4545454

terra_ferma wrote: »

I stand corrected...

good, read more carefully in future

dickydonkin

andy46 wrote: »

Probably a silly question but if someone internally applies for the job and meets the criteria for the vacancy then why do companies need to advertise it externally also and probably waste most of those peoples time who are applying for the role externally. To me it makes no sense !!!!

Edit. Just thought and I expect someone is going to say equal opportunities etc and they have to advertise for every candidate to be considered. However if someone was good enough within the workplace then they could just bypass the application process and just offer the role straight to them.

It is possible that the company's own recruitment policy determines what procedures they use.

Some organisations will advertise jobs internally as a first stage of recruitment and if no suitable applicant is forthcoming, it is then advertised externally.

I have found that recruiting internally does not always ensure the best person is getting the job.

Burlesque_Babe

dave4545454 wrote: »

if it's the council, it almost always goes internally

Didn't with me. Back in the mid 90s I covered my manager's position for 6 months with an honorarium. They interviewed internally and I was told I was the strongest candidate but wanted to re-advertise externally to 'compare me against the outside market'. I was re-interviewed and didn't get it. The person they employed was almost identical to me age and experience wise. I left and got a fantastic job in the private sector for the next few years.

I saw the Chief Exec. at a function in my new job. After getting a 'what are you doing here?' he drunkenly told me 'it didn't matter how good you were at the job, we were always going to give it to someone from outside'. :mad: