Advice?

[Chris100682]

Just wanting some help, I've worked for a big company for the last 17 months. 3 months ago I applied for a perm position in a new dept (I'd worked in the dept 03-04 for 9months as a temp!) They came back and offered me a 4 month secondment they said bcos they were not sure the amount of work they we're getting in they couldn't offer anything perm at that point. So I took the job and thought well if I have to go back to my old position it's not the end of the world and they cant say I didn't try!

I started my new role and another employee -Ben- had also been seconded (same as me applied for perm) to the dept!
We started our training on one (easy and very repetitive) job, and have basically done that for the last 5wks! Apart from the fact that Ben has been trained on 1thing more than I have!
2wks ago they announced that there was 1 permanent job up for grabs and we were both told that if we wanted to apply for it we could! This annoyed us both as we had already been down the applying & interview road, however was apparently "procedures"

I thought Ben might apply for it - I knew if he did that I didn't stand a chance (he was trained on 1thing more than me - and the team manager seems to like him more than me?) The manager kept saying to him 'So are you going to apply?' and 'have you applied yet?' and has said nothing to me - in fact the last time the manager spoke to me was about 3 wks ago? Trying to tell me something maybe?

Anyway I think I should get the job over Ben - I've worked there before and most importantly I know more about the role. I decided to apply for the job, however I know that I'm going to get rejected over Ben and know for a fact that would be unfair!

[buildersmate]

You won't get the job if you don't apply. Even the best HR recruitment and selection policies depend on human judgements about who is the better candidate. Unfortunately some of those judgements are made on subjective grounds rather than objective grounds - sorry, but that's life. After completing 24 months of temp work with the organisation, you may well acquire employment rights equal to those of a permanent employee. Keep your head down and look out of other permanent opportunities internally?

[dot.hawkes]

Go for it with a positive attitude and stress how well you feel you have become part of the team and that your colleagues are supportive and you feel comfortable working with them on any level. i think this might give you he edge over Ben, who seems to be a preferred choice of a Team manager who is not exactly showing Team spirit , don't settle for this job, tell them your aim is to be Team manager.