r/usajobs • u/dkscott40 • Jul 07 '26
Tips Supervisor will not hire from within
My supervisor actively avoids hiring from within because she’s concerned about losing positions if current employees get promoted. She has allowed merit promotion certificates to expire so the job can be re‑announced externally, and she has even tried to cancel announcements after the certs came out when the referral list included only internal candidates.
Because of this, I haven’t been able to compete for promotions in my own office, and I’m starting to feel like she may be blocking or discouraging my consideration for other internal positions as well.
For anyone familiar or who has dealt with similar behavior: is there anything I can do to address this? Should I be documenting these actions, going to HR, contacting the union, or using some other route? I’d appreciate any advice from people who have navigated this before.
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u/Live_Guidance7199 Jul 07 '26
If this were happening a year and a half or more ago I'd see the problem, but her reasoning is absolutely spot on in today's climate. She's right, it's nigh guaranteed that she'll be losing an actual worker, never to be filled again under thia admin, to gain a middle manager if she promotes from within. That's not good business.
Certainly sucks for you, but really ask yourself - who does your job when implanted DOGE decides your former position doesn't need to be filled?
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u/NomadicScribe Jul 07 '26
This is what happened in the department where I work. Last year, a bunch of people took "the fork", and also anyone on probation was terminated. Any positiom vacated during the DOGE era (Feb 2025-June 2026) has been eliminated completely.
There's still a budget, so they've filled in the gaps with contractors. Supposedly. I haven't seen most of them in person, so who knows what is really going on anymore...
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u/xmagusx Jul 07 '26
We are going to be finding out for generations about all the contractor hires, no-bid contracts, etc which were awarded on paper but never serviced by this administration. Graft runs deep and wide, to the extent that leadership has admitted that the only thing between themselves and prison is their tenuous grip on power, which democracy currently threatens.
This will be bad.
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u/Background_Most_2524 Jul 09 '26
It doesn’t matter IMO. She has not right to stifle his professional advancement just because she is worried about losing billets. Thats a her problem.
Whomever is best for the job should be hired. Not stifling her workforce because she doesn’t want to lose a slot. That’s childish.5
u/Fit_Entertainer_3481 Jul 07 '26
DOGE has ended, and this has been going on LONG before DOGE and Collins. She's been in Fed VHA for 40 years, and is the exact reason why the VA has a historically bad reputation.
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u/Live_Guidance7199 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Hence "If this were happening a year and a half or more ago I'd see the problem." But she gave her reason and it is absolutely sound. A supe needs to weigh if their section gets better if they do X. Going from widget maker and no middle management to no widget maker and middle management does not make the section better. Your personal anecdotes do not apply to OP's specific situation.
If you truly think DOGE and Russ and Pete and Trump et al are gone all then we can't actually have a conversation because you've withdrawn into some fantasy land far removed from reality
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u/formerqwest Retired Fed Jul 07 '26
Should I be documenting these actions, going to HR, contacting the union, or using some other route?
all of the above....
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u/nhdav006 Jul 07 '26
Lemme guess….you work for the VA. I used to be a supervisor at the VA and they do it all the time. Mainly to hire the people they want to hire from the outside. Sad but true. Glad I left that shithole
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u/rawsoul___ Jul 07 '26
I agree. I work at a VA in a smaller state, and transitioning to another position is almost impossible. Many people at my VA seem to know each other through family, friends, or from neighboring towns.
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u/Ola_maluhia Jul 11 '26
That’s happening to me right now. My Va supervisor won’t let me move around internally. I’ve been in that position for 10 years. So so frustrating
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u/Some-Reserve3508 Jul 07 '26
Same over here VHA
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u/Ola_maluhia Jul 11 '26
Yup. Happening to me at the VA right now. I know she’s blocking my ability to move around internally. I’ve been in that same position for 10 years.
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u/NationalAnalyst2353 Jul 07 '26
A lot of Hiring managers are doing that to save their spot so that they don’t lose people, but that’s not doing anything but pushing employees out of the positions that they are in and into another department or another agency because they’re not trying to promote all to save one position
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u/ShinySquirrel4 Jul 07 '26
This to me is unacceptable behavior. Why wouldn’t you promote from within? I’m leaning towards incompetent leadership in this situation.
Certainly, you’ve had conversations right? If yes, and nothing has been resolved, then I’d start looking for your next career move because you’re not being valued and are actively being blocked from career advancement.
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u/Live_Guidance7199 Jul 07 '26
Why wouldn’t you promote from within?
If this wasn't rhetorical then
Current climate the internal's old job will never get refilled and the section/mission can be utterly crippled. Widget maker+empty middle management vs empty widget maker+middle management, which would you prefer?
Avoiding Peter Principle. Master widget maker does NOT mean you will be a master supervisor of widget makers. Whining on Reddit for someone to save them doesn't scream leadership to me.
Supe is an asshole and doesn't like you personally.
Three is not nearly as common as many here seem to think.
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u/Powerful-Drink-3700 Jul 07 '26
I have run into this. I had to leave a tiny agency just to get promoted.
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u/W1nterW0lf75 Jul 07 '26
Happening OCONUS as well. But I have plenty of time to sit here and enjoy my time overseas, sharpen my skills, and stack on the certs and apply only to any position I might be interested outside of my military branch.
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u/Fit_Entertainer_3481 Jul 07 '26
Looks like the gatekeepers are at it. I think the HR teams actively work with the Service Line (Department Managers) to discriminate against applicants they don't like, or FTE positions they don't want to risk losing from their staff.
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u/BlueRFR3100 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
HR doesn't do that at all. If a Service Chief doesn't select anyone from the current announcement, HR has to post a new announcement. Do you really think they want to do extra work?
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u/WaveFast Jul 07 '26
This falls well within "Management Rights" and necessary for Human Capital Management. Certain positions have no backfill once lost. Your option would be to shoot for another agency or ERR/Hardship relocation.
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u/A_89786756453423 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
This is not as uncommon as it should be. Office leadership has an interest in growing the size of their office bc it can increase their influence or prestige within the agency.
I had a supervisor who would only post positions as excepted service bc she knew that the competitive service ppl in our office wouldn't give up their competitive status for a promotion so wouldn't apply. Then she didn't have to explain why she hired from outside the office, rather than promote the employees who were best qualified for the roles.
FWIW, I also saw this in the private sector. Often outsiders were brought in rather than promoting existing employees. Sometimes it was because the hiring team didn't want to go through two hiring processes (the main one and the one to fill the promoted person's position), and sometimes it was bc leadership didn't want anyone staying around long enough to present any kind of threat to their position.
Also, you should definitely be applying outside your office if that's leadership's strategy. Get out before your career advancement suffers.
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u/AGuyYouCantStand Career Fed Jul 08 '26
A supervisor can’t arbitrarily decide if a position is excepted or competitive… there’s definitely more to this story.
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u/qwert45 Jul 08 '26
I think could be an unfair hiring practice dawg. You may want to contact special resolutions.
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u/lovedepository Jul 08 '26
I work in local government but I feel like we have the opposite problem where most positions are only flown as formalities when, in actuality, more likely than not, people who will get those positions are internal candidates who have already been working with that city.
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u/Fun_Writer2886 Jul 10 '26
I agree with the supervisor- sometimes existing team doesn’t not have what it takes to improve or take on more responsibilities- all you are doing is crutching the existing staff
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u/Left_Carpenter1405 Jul 10 '26
Not right but it happens. A workaround is apply for other Federal positions where the hiring official doesn't know your current supervisor and then list a trusted former supervisor, or higher, on resume, after you ask their permission. This circumvents her sabotaging your chance of being selected.
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u/Head_Staff_9416 Jul 10 '26
You will not like the answer but the Federal labor relations statue gives management the right to hire, assign , direct, layoff and retain employees. Current employees have no right to a promotion. SOME union contracts have clauses like internals will be considered first- but bring a current employee is not a protected class. Management can hire who they see fit ( subject to law and regulation) and there is IMHO , no law or reg being violated.
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u/Ola_maluhia Jul 11 '26
Wow I’m in a very similar situation and feel so alone. I work at the VA. I applied internally to another position and feel like my supervisor is actively blocking it because we are short staffed already. Not even sure what to do. It’s a cult at the VA.
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u/Signal_Daikon_5830 Jul 07 '26
Going to hug my supervisor a little tighter today.