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During an informal conversation with another team, they suggested I would be good for the role of "XYZ Owner" in their team. I did two interviews with them for that role. Then they offered me a role as a "Senior XYZ". I was at remuneration level 3, Senior XYZ is level 4, and XYZ Owner is level 5.

I questioned this decision, and they said, "Yeah, sorry, the computer doesn't let us offer you the role of XYZ Owner. But Senior XYZ is just right for you, it is still a step up for you."

I ended up taking that role after chatting with my family and trusted friends. However, this has led to a somewhat strange situation because it is an unintentional bait and switch. The team was told I was interviewing for the role of XYZ Owner. Now I have to explain to them that I am a Senior XYZ. There's also some confusion as to what happened to the interview for the role of XYZ Owner.

My question is how to explain this situation to the team?

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    @hawkeye I started a thread for you on the meta site - workplace.meta.stackexchange.com/q/5112/2322 - generally that's the easiest/best way for that. Thanks for asking!
    – enderland
    Mar 22, 2018 at 0:49
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    The answer(s) could vary depending on your location. In fact, in Australia, this would be illegal.
    – Möoz
    Apr 24, 2018 at 2:08
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    "the computer doesn't let us offer you the role of XYZ" ... "it is an unintentional bait and switch" - sorry to say, but it doesn't sound like there's anything unintentional about it at all.
    – berry120
    Apr 24, 2018 at 16:48
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    When you don't want to take responsibility - blame the computer.
    – NotMe
    May 23, 2018 at 21:11

2 Answers 2

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How do I explain this to the team?

"I interviewed for XYZ Owner, they said they could only offer me Senior XYZ. I took it."

Not sure what the dilemma is. Your team members won't look down on your for accepting a promotion. They probably understand how company bureaucracies, and, especially, arbitrary management or HR policies go.

I would say, though, if the job duties are substantially different, and they try piling "owner"-level responsibilities on you, that you refuse it, since they specifically told you they were not going to hire you for that role.

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For me, it all comes down to the three C's:

  • Career Objectives -- Taking on a different role/career path I didn't specifically seek out would be a red flag to me. Is this a bait & switch on the companies part? I'd immediately want to research whether I really see myself in this role in 5 years, and what education I already possess that I would be no longer using/falling out-of-date on. I'd also want to see the career path for this role and what future promotion is possible. The last thing you want is a dead end career path with no chance to move up.
  • Compensation -- The obvious answer is more. The only exception is that you want to change career paths, and are willing to take less to be offered new/better advancement in the future.
  • Company -- Do I like this company, are the people good? Do I want to be part of their team, do I like the mission they are trying to solve in the world?
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    This answer was written before the edit which changed the question. There is no mechanism to let the OP of this answer to know the change. It's unfair to raise Low Quality Post flag against this answer before notifying the OP of the answer so he could react to it. Vote to "Looks OK".
    – Nobody
    Apr 24, 2018 at 5:25
  • @MaskedMan The original version of the question was "How to approach new job when interviewed for one role and then the same team offered another role?" Please read this answer to see if it answered the original question.
    – Nobody
    Apr 24, 2018 at 6:29
  • @MaskedMan I looked at version 1 and version 2, the OP did not say he accepted the offer. Version 4 (14 hours ago) said he accepted the offer.
    – Nobody
    Apr 24, 2018 at 7:04
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    @MaskedMan Ah I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out. Now, it's my turn to flag it as not an answer even for the original version and let the community decide.
    – Nobody
    Apr 24, 2018 at 8:00

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