The head of the dept. I worked for told us that the dept. Was about to restructure due to merging with another company. He invited my supervisor and me out to dinner as part of an interview process for a potential candidate to replace him while he went from overseeing not only our dept. but another as well.
My supervisor was nervous as he was next in line internally for the job. I told him not to worry. I knew the candidate from previous jobs in the company, and while the guy was really nice, he didn’t have the credentials that my supervisor did.
The four of us met at the designated restaurant. What started out as an amicable evening soon turned into an uncomfortable one. It wasn’t an interview but a sales pitch by the dept. head to say that it was a done deal and to accept it.
It finally dawned on me. The dept. head wasn’t following company protocol in hiring standards. Instead, he chose his best friend and the godfather of his children to fill a position that hadn’t been posted and that he wasn’t qualified for.
One glance at my supervisor told me that he wasn’t going to speak up. So I did. It wasn’t pretty. I was really ticked off that he would try to manipulate us and even think that we would fall for it.
We left shortly after that. I don’t recall that we ever got around to ordering dinner. The dept. head’s buddy was hired. We all moved past the incident as if it never happened.