Why advertise a job already ring-fenced for an internal person?

Dear Moses,
Why do some companies advertise when they already have someone they are planning to give a job to? By the time you apply, they claim they have already gotten someone they want. Why waste time advertising when the job has been ring-fenced for an internal person? This is giving applicants false hope, just don’t advertise! Paul

Dear Paul,
It is indeed very frustrating to discover in the end that you were duped into becoming an ‘escort’ for a candidate already chosen by a prospective employer.

This is actually very unprofessional and tells a lot about the integrity of that employer. The silver lining on this is that you have got to learn to treat every job interview you attend as a lesson and milestone in your search for employment.

By the mere fact that you were invited for the interview, means that you satisfied more than the basic requirements to attract a prospective employer to decide spending their valuable time interviewing you. Therefore, you should try to find out why you didn’t get that job. Seek feedback and use it to be better next time. This means that you have to learn to treat every failure as a lesson.

Knowing that failure is not always bad after all, provided you are willing to take lessons from it, is half the challenge solved.  I have written on these pages that getting a job these days is very similar to getting customers to buy your product, this time your labour/the skills you possess.

The way you package yourself as a brand determines your marketability and employability. I have witnessed employers instantly creating new positions and budgets to finance them, which they have never had before in their establishment, simply to accommodate a candidate they have discovered at the interview and they don’t want to lose. So the issue of ring-fencing an internal person for job is not always insurmountable.  

Employers are always on the lookout, headhunting talent to join their organisations simply because of the skill sets and attitudes they possess. Such people don’t have to apply or send around their CVs. Their major headache is to make a choice of which employer to join and which one to turn down.

If you determine to do what it takes to join that club of people, you will realise with time that actually you are the gem prospective employers will pay top dollar for and you will only be spoilt for choice.

The challenge for many job seekers is resilience, which also includes investing heavily in yourself to get to top of the food chain.  #Staysafe

Moses Ssesanga,
Head of Human Resource,
NMG Uganda
[email protected]