[edko]

Some companies even do this for job applications. A manager has a person they want for a role but, because of policy, they must publish it on their employment website, and go through the charade of interviewing candidates, wasting everybody's time. In the end, their preferred candidate wins.

[umvi]

This has happened twice to my dad.

The first time was in 1994 when he applied for an Air Force position in Italy. The role required a max 3 out of 3 score on the DoD Italian proficiency test and some other niche requirements, all of which my dad fulfilled. The Air Force selected my dad for the position since the only other candidate that applied was the person currently holding the position. Then there was a big debacle because the commander over that position actually wanted the extend the guy currently holding the position a few years and decided crafting a niche job spec that seemingly only he could fill was the best way. There was a bunch of back-pedaling and politics and the job position was redacted in order for the commander to keep his guy from being replaced by my dad.

The second time was similar, but at a public university. A super niche job opening for their history department was published on their site that required experience with american military history, and a few other things my dad was uniquely qualified for. He applied, and the job posting was shortly taken down and my dad got a response like "actually we've decided to move a different direction from when we originally posted that job listing. That listing has been removed and we are no longer accepting applications for it". Seemed like another instance where the candidate to-be-hired was pre-determined, but my dad threw a wrench into their plans by applying to a job posting that was only supposed to have 1 candidate (the predetermined hire).

[brightball]

I applied for a job that a friend of mine was up for simply because they couldn't complete the job search until they had enough candidates. I went through the interview process to speed things up for him. Got interviewed by 9 people when we all knew what the outcome was supposed to be.

I spent most of the time talking about how great he was at his job just to move it along faster.

[icecap12]

In my experience, this most frequently occurs if the company does business with the government (fed, state, or local). In such cases, the "charade" is required by Federal or State law. I agree its absolutely ridiculous, but large companies can and are in fact frequently audited on these and other hiring practice requirements (such as interview notes, etc.).

At my $BIGCORP, if you want to give somebody a band promotion (meaning, up to the next major band), the job must be posted both internally and externally and you must interview any candidates who appear to meet the requirements. It's a pain in the ass, especially when you clearly have someone in mind. There are always people both internal and external looking at our jobs site because we're a well known Fortune 50; you're bound to get applicants to the higher level roles. It just creates extra work and wastes the time of all involved...but alas, regulation.

eta: could also be a requirement of publicly traded companies, though I'm far less sure on this.

[chevman]

It's not so much an actual regulation, as it is good practice that once you get large enough (ie attractive enough to sue), HR will implement actions to "affirmatively demonstrate" that they are fair in their hiring practices.

[cyanydeez]

Typically, I assume most fuckery is built into a business charter and becomes so ingrained, most employees have no idea why they're jumping through the hoops

[h1srf]

Green card job postings do this because it is a requirement to advertise the opening. So you tailor the job description specifically for the person you already employ on a immigrant visa.

[nradov]

You're probably referring to job postings used to justify H-1B (and similar) visa applications. Such visas are only supposed to be approved if the employer shows that no US person can do the job.

There's not really any green card job postings. But getting an H-1B can be the first step toward obtaining a green card (permanent residency) for some immigrants.

[commandlinefan]

> tailor the job description

And still don't hire anybody who shows up who actually has those qualifications.

[mianos]

We had this in Australia a few years back. TCS employed a whole call centre to advertise jobs and interview many people for them so they could bring in their own overseas contractors because they could not fill the positions with local developers as they lacked the skills required. All of them.

[MegaButts]

> Some companies

I'm genuinely asking - are there companies that don't do this? I guess excluding companies with something like <20 people.

[detaro]

I don't know if it's universal at large companies, but your cut-off is at least an order of magnitude to small.

[rootusrootus]

We have done it at every company I've ever worked for, but not for all positions. Probably less than half on average. But it is somewhat common to find that someone we know and like has become available and we open a position to offer it to them. But HR makes us post it anyway, pro forma.

[throwawayboise]

Yes. In fact, it's probably safe to assume it's happening unless the position being advertised is entry-level or has multiple openings for the same job description.

[mulmen]

Of course there are. If all companies only publish job openings as a charade and know who they want to hire why go through the charade?

[victor_e]

I interviewed at a bank shortly after I graduated college. We had to do an exam as part of the interview process and for that a few candidates were at the office at the same time. I learned that one of the candidates worked there previously and was known to the hiring team. Immediately I knew I wasn't getting that job!

[rmason]

This practice is fairly rampant at universities. It's just a way they game the rules they're forced to operate under.

[dtjb]

I don't think it's an exclusively bad practice, especially at larger organizations where cliques and silos are deeply entrenched. It can be hard to retain good people when every opportunity is spoken for by the director's buddy and there's no path to move up.

I'm not arguing an absolute, there should be a way for leaders to hand pick the clear favorite when they're qualified, but I don't know if that should be the default policy.

[Fomite]

Someone I know didn't get a job written for them because someone with staggeringly high qualifications applied. It's rare but it happens.

[perfecthjrjth]

This is needed for H1-B and PERM.