First, take a deep breath.? You did nothing wrong.? No one is expected to be omniscient.? (Although, it is helpful, but it’s more of an inborn skill than a learned one, so I can’t help you there.)

As a general rule, nice managers want people on their staff who will succeed in the position and who will eventually move on to other positions.? A good company that has multiple departments where managers work together for the good of the company want the right people in the right department.

You’ve found out that you are being considered for a position that you really, really want.? Super!? You didn’t know about that when you met with the other manager.? Chances are, she didn’t know about it either, because it sounds like you had a good conversation about your career path and if she had known she would have brought it up.

Of course you would have said things differently if you had known that job was available–because you would have talked about that job.? But, unless you lied and said you really, really, really wanted to be in her department and you thought the other department stunk, then there is no problem here.

Go to the hiring manager for the position you are interested in and say, “I have heard that the assistant supervisor position is opening up.? I would love to be considered for that.? As soon as it is posted, I”ll go through the official process, but I was hoping you had time to discuss the position with me for a few minutes.”? Then you make an appointment (or if she’s available, right then) and you talk about the position.

Don’t worry that career discussions about one are mean you are necessarily excluding other areas.? We expect you to have your options open until you accept a job offer.

Got a workplace dilemma? Email your questions to EvilHRLady@gmail.com.

Photo by Paparuchas, Flickr cc 2.0

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