The recruiter said she had submitted his name in November, and she still had the email confirming it. I asked her what position she’d submitted him for, and she read me the title they eventually gave me in July. Same clients, same department, same responsibilities. I thanked her and asked her to forward me the message if she was comfortable doing so. She did, and the date was November 14th. The company didn’t tell me my job was being elevated until February.
I took the email to HR and asked why an outside candidate had been recruited for my supposedly new position three months before the company announced it existed. They said the November submission had been for “future organizational planning.” I asked why the recruiter had been given the exact job description and salary range that appeared in my July offer. They couldn’t answer. Then I requested the internal approval documents for the elevated role. The approval had been signed in October, and my name wasn’t anywhere on it.
My attorney sent the company a copy of the recruiter’s email and the October approval. Suddenly the interview I’d supposedly lost on merit became a “transition decision,” and they offered me a separation package. I accepted only after they agreed to provide a neutral reference and correct my personnel record. The outside candidate eventually took the job, but several of my former clients followed me when I started consulting independently. I kept the November email because it answered the question they never wanted me to ask. They told me I had lost the job in an interview, but the interview was never really for the job—they had already chosen who would sit at my desk three months before I was told to apply for it.
