'I was rejected for the job I currently have': Job-seeker is passed over for a job, only to be hired 4 months later because 1st hire couldn't 'handle it'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Nov 24, 2025 10:00 AM EST

Rejection is tough to face, from anyone. It doesn't matter if it's a job that you applied to months ago and forgot about or that crush you've been working up the courage to ask out for ages. Rejection hurts either way. Sure, you can build up defenses against it, but ultimately, it's still a blow to the ego, no matter how small. That's why it's so confusing when you're rejected from something at first and then accepted later on. Has that ever happened to you? It can be real emotional whiplash. 

That's what happened to this employee, who found themselves in a situation they didn't quite understand. The hiring process is always pretty opaque. You send our resumes and cover letters into the ether and hope that you hear something back. Often, you don't hear anything at all, and you're left to wonder why. You rarely get answers to why or why not. The lack of information is often stunning. That's why you can end up in situations like this one, where you don't know which way is up or down. 

Advertisement
  • a woman shakes a man's hand at a job interview.
    via Mina Rad

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • After getting rejected from a job with a standard email, this job seeker thought they would just move on. Months later, they got a call from the great blue nothing with a job offer. But when they finally got to the job, they were still left wondering what exactly had happened. Read on for the full story and see what you think.

  • I was rejected for the job I currently have.

    Applied for a position at my company six months ago. Got the generic "we've decided to move forward with other candidates" email. Fast forward to last month - same role opened up again. Different hiring manager this time. Sailed through the interview and got an offer.
    via u/HadesLaw
  • Been doing the job for three weeks now. Turns out I'm replacing the person they hired instead of me, who quit after four months because they couldn't handle it. Really makes you wonder what these hiring decisions are actually based on.
    via u/HadesLaw
  • A woman interviews a man for a job at an office.
    via Mina Rad

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Commenters agreed that there might be more going on here.

    HenchmanHenk • 4h ago Vibes, some rediculous shit read on LinkedIn, nepotism, take your pick really.
    via u/HenchmanHenk
  • VanchaMarch57 4h ago Most managers in the corporate world are clueless. And tenured employees that want to grow aren't given respect and chances to do that, then they wonder why nobody is "inspired" anymore after you get passed over for some outside hire that can't cut it and sets the company back months and costs them lots of money.
    via u/VanchaMarch57
  • . Nymeria31 3h ago Love that!! When my boss retired, I was approved to backfill until a new boss was hired. This actually requires approval from HR to make sure I meet the minimum qualifications. All good, no issues.
    via u/Nymeria31
  • Job opening is posted for my boss's job, I apply and was auto-rejected by the auto-filter as not being qualified. I was able to work with a human to get it corrected (after a month of advocating for myself) but only because I was internal and undeniably qualified by their own review. But it's clear that these filtering tools are extremely ineffectual at proper screening.
    via u/Nymeria31
  • . Dgp68824402 3h ago That happened to my wife once. She interviewed great, had all the experience, was a perfect fit. Company went with a younger male (learned later). He ghosted them after one day for a better offer somewhere else. They called her back and she accepted (not knowing the story at the time). She's been there 5 years and has been promoted.
    via u/Dgp68824402
  • General_Lackoffocus • 4h ago I would add cheapest option if it's a job for a corporation or publicly traded company.
    via u/General_Lackoffocus
  • . Pure_Bee2281 3h ago If it's helpful the average manager only hires a couple people a year. And while you are trying to figure out if people will be a good fit everyone is lying to you and presenting the best version of themselves.
    via u/Pure_Bee2281
  • And jobs usually don't tell applicants about the shitty parts of the job. So everyone is lying to everyone and people who only do something a few times a year will never get skilled at that task. Funnily enough I'm shocked it EVER goes well.
    via u/Pure_Bee2281
  • BoldroCop 3h ago I was just rejected for a permanent position in a scientific experiment that I've been covering for the last 6 years, as a postdoc. Life sucks :(
    via u/BoldroCop
  • AshtonBlack . 3h ago Generally, it's based on "Who can we get for the lowest amount, whilst actually doing the job?" They'll talk about wanting the "best candidate" but what they actually want is the cheapest that could feasibly do the tasks. It's a race to the bottom to devalue skills as much as possible to keep "costs" down.
    via u/AshtonBlack
  • windmillguy123 • 1h ago A story for you that might provide context to how some companies think. About a decade ago in a previous life I was looking to recruit a new technician, there was a candidate who was working at one of our sub contractors who I wanted to hire. The man in question knew our sites, got on well with all the staff and was known to be very good at what he did.
    via u/windmillguy123
  • I wasn't allowed to just offer the job, it had to be advertised and I needed to interview at least 5 people as per the company policy. The interview was competency based and personality wasn't to be considered, a simple scoring system again, as per their policy.
    via u/windmillguy123
  • I did the interviews and scored everyone honestly and purely based on their responses and the person I wanted scored 2nd highest so I wasn't allowed to offer him the job.
    via u/windmillguy123
  • The person HR insisted I should offer the job to turned out to be full of shit but was able to think fast and knew what buzz words to say and clearly knew how to answer well. He lasted a few months before he left and the person I had wanted was no longer interested as he felt stabbed in the back and it had ruined a working relationship.
    via u/windmillguy123
  • HR refused to listen to reason or consider the human factor and how personality might actually be important when building a good team. I wish I had just fudged the scored but my morals felt everyone should be treated honestly. I left that job not longer after and learned not to be so invested amd honest in what I'm doing.
    via u/windmillguy123
  • Only_Tip9560 • 2h ago Interviews are a petty inaccurate tool. There really is no way of replicating actually working with someone. An hour answering questions and doing hypothetical exercises is only ever going to get you so far.
    via u/Only_Tip9560
  • themidnightpoetsrep • 1h ago This happened to me once. Applied for a role on December. I was basically told they loved me but I was out of state and they had changed their mind about offering the role to a remote employee. I later learned they had two roles opened.
    via u/themidnightpoetsrep
  • Someone else got hired in March. Then they called me back in May to see if I was still interested. I was hired then on as remote. They literally could have had at least one person from the jump but they were being stubborn
    via u/themidnightpoetsrep
  • Manager_Rich · 1h ago • It's funny how that works. At my last job I was passed over for a promotion, the guy that got it over me, had less education, less experience, less tenure, few skills overall and didn't know the facility 1/2 as well as I did. BUT he was at the time dating the Director of accounting for the company......
    via u/Manager_Rich
  • Within a year I left to pursue better opportunities, the Director of facilities left, and the guy that was promoted over me left himself, with his now WIFE both moved on to other companies. One guy in the department was fired and the final guy moved after about two years.
    via u/Manager_Rich
  • Oh and the CEO who was responsible for the decision on the promotion, (who in truth didn't like me) was FIRED for running the company into the ground by spending excessively, seeing dropping revenues as well as seeing a MASSIVE spike in turnover. A place that once had an average employee tenure of about 3 years, dropped under him to about 4-6 months....
    via u/Manager_Rich
  • • yorcharturoqro · 3h ago Hiring is complicated, an internal movement is better because you already know the person and how this person works. But hiring a new person from outside, it's complicated, you have only the interviews, and some people can be manipulative (on both sides) and deceive you.
    via u/yorcharturoqro
  • I have a good record hiring great people, only once I regret hiring a person, because of her personality, her work is OK, but she's toxic and full of venom. The ugly gossip coworker that wants to grow by spreading gossip about others. It's not easy to see that in interviews.
    via u/yorcharturoqro
  • FCKIED 2h ago • I mean you still got 3 months to go to catch up to them so. You're still in that honeymoon phase with a new job.
    via u/FCKIED
  • PeachPassionBrute 1h ago I've been rejected once for a position I literally already had, simply on a different shift. They had the audacity to say they were going with someone more qualified even after admitting that I was the only person in the interview process that could correctly answer all the questions about the job.
    via u/PeachPassionBrute

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working reddit story toxic-boss workplace reddit thread bad bosses Reddit toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article