What to do when you lose out on promotion, and how to say no

Welcome to the Help Desk: using the latest technology and research, our resident expert helps you to tackle your workplace dilemmas. 

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO? 

I applied for an internal position posted by my organization and I didn’t get it; I wasn’t even shortlisted – it went to another internal candidate. Should I quit?  

Hiring internal candidates within an organization can be an incredible way to access a talent pool of loyal individuals motivated to learn and grow. This also has inherent risk – a study of 9,300 internal rejections discovered that 14% of rejected candidates left the company (triple the normal turnover rate). Rejection hurts, and in this case, you can feel unseen and undervalued for all the time and hard work you’ve put in.   

Don’t make any decisions when you’re still experiencing the sting of rejection – there are usually many more internal candidates than positions. On the bright side, denied promotions can sometimes boost your resilience,…