"It's not what you know, but who you know."
I have been working at a government agency for two months now as a COS employee. I will not mention the name, nor the region, due to privacy concerns. Before I got in, dumaan muna ako sa butas ng karayom. To give context, it took me three months of applying to finally land a job. Sa workplace ko ngayon, it took me three tries to finally get in. First, I applied as a Project Technical Staff I. However, I received an email that the hiring will no longer be pushed through. Second, I applied for another Project Technical Staff position. After two weeks of waiting, I received a rejection email telling me that the selection process was "highly competitive". However, to my surprise, the same position was posted a week later. Since I really needed a job, I applied again. This time, I was invited for a pre-qualifying exam consisting of an aptitude test and a written exam. To be honest, it is the most difficult PQE I have taken. Thankfully, I passed and was invited for an interview a week later. Four office heads interviewed me, and I answered their questions to the best of my ability. I finally got in.
Fast forward two weeks later, after assuming duty, while nakikipag kwentuhan ako sa two co-workers ko na papangalanan nating A and B, na-kwento ko yung experience ko from application to exam to interview, and how difficult it was. Then, I asked them, "Pano naman yung experience nyo?" With a bit of hesitation, they told me na hindi daw sila na-interview and nag exam, kinausap nalang daw sila na mag start agad. I also found out na relative nila yung pinaka boss namin. Also, yung first position na naka-receive ako ng email that the hiring will no longer be pushed through, dahil pala na-hire na si co-worker A. Fast forward a few weeks later, na promote si co-worker B to a higher position. Pano? Our boss talked directly sa magiging supervisor niya para kunin sya as staff. Since na-promote na sya, syempre may vacant position, right? Tinanong ko sya if I po-post yung vacant position, she responded casually, "Baka hindi na, baka yung kakilala nalang ng HR yung kukunin" and totoo nga. May nakuha na, a few weeks later. Another scenario, si co-worker C naman, nag apply siya for a plantilla position inside the agency. Since hindi sya naka take ng Pre-Qualifying Exam, pina reschedule nya, which is a big insult to the other applicants since he works in the HR department and lagi nyang sinasabi na bawal mag pa re-sched ng exam. Siyempre, siya yung nakuha.
Kaya sa mga na-reject for government positions, sometimes, it's not because you're not qualified, minsan, mas malakas lang talaga kapit ng kalaban mo. I feel really bad for the applicants na nag-eeffort na mag-apply at lumalaban nang patas tapos harap harapan silang ginagago ng government agency na to :(