I’ve been passed over for promotion, despite working hard. Should I resign?

3 hours ago 3

Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column, Got a Minute? This week: being overlooked for promotion in favour of a new hire, disclosing giving notice and working for family.

Being overlooked for promotion in favour of an external candidate can be a hard pill to swallow.

I missed out on a promotion after working really hard for a few years. The feedback was that I didn’t do as well in the interview as the external candidate who got the role. Do I take this at face value and try to improve my interview skills, or look for another job where they value my work?

Unfortunately, the rungs of a corporate ladder are filled by internal candidates who are overlooked for someone shiny and new brought in from outside an organisation. Sometimes those decisions can be the best choice, especially when a strategic reset or turnaround is needed. But it can also end in disaster when a new person doesn’t work out as planned.

Please know these kinds of decisions often have nothing to do with you. It may be that your interview skills need improving, and I would definitely take that feedback on board; find out as much as you can about what may need to be improved for next time. But as an internal candidate, the people interviewing you would not have based their decision solely on your interview. They already know how you perform in your role. That makes me think they had another reason – unrelated to you – as to why they wanted an external candidate.

See what you can learn from your new boss. As well, get all the feedback you can and interview with a new organisation with more opportunities for promotion or even an opportunity to take on a more senior role right now.

I’ve recently decided to change jobs after more than a decade in my role. I asked my current boss to act as a referee, which he was, and afterwards he texted to ask if I had been successful in the role. I answered honestly and said yes, and explained I would not be resigning for a few more weeks. Soon after our exchange, I was asked to attend a meeting with my boss and HR and was told they had accepted my “resignation” and backdated it to when I told my boss I got the new job. They told me I didn’t need to officially resign, that the text message stating that I had a new job was enough. Is it legal that they have terminated me without reason before I officially submitted a resignation? I am now short two weeks’ pay between jobs. This seems extremely unfair to me.

There is always a risk that when you tell your employer you have a new role they might ask you to finish up straight away. However, they have to pay you from that date and pay out your notice period. I would contact Fair Work Australia and ask about your rights since it does seem they have terminated your employment based on a resignation that was not given voluntarily. And the whole business of unilaterally backdating your resignation is also problematic, to say the least. Good luck!

My wife has been working for her family for the past few months in a sales role. Their communication style is poor, resulting in late nights with minimal support or recognition. She has raised concerns about her workload and asked for help, but there has been no change or help provided. I recently found out she isn’t being paid a commission on her sales and doesn’t have a signed contract. I’m worried she is being taken advantage of and wouldn’t be covered if she has a workplace accident. Any tips would be helpful.

My tip is avoiding working with family and friends whenever you can. It often ends badly and not only do you end up needing to change jobs, but your personal relationships suffer too. Clearly your wife should be treated like any other employee – she needs a contract, a salary level and structure similar to other “like” roles in the company or industry. She should be receiving superannuation, and be covered for workers’ compensation and the like.

Your wife and her family members need to create a professional working relationship that is fair and equitable. They will also have to agree when they are meeting as family that they take their “work” hats off and only deal with work issues at work. If at any stage anyone is trying to take advantage of the situation, find another job, since it is much harder to find another family.

To submit a question about work, careers or leadership, visit kirstinferguson.com/ask. You will not be asked to provide your name or any identifying information. Letters may be edited.

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