Unqualified Qualifier

Well, dearies, it has been way too long since my last post. I wish it were because I was on some amazing adventure or due to some romantic tragedy, but, alas, it was because my life had little to report to the masses. I went on a couple of dates and reunited with a couple friends from my past, but beyond that, nada. Except...

About a month ago, I applied for the federal position of the contracted job that I am doing now. For those of you who have gone through the process, you'll sympathize that what they ask you to provide as a candidate, and what is actually useful to the hiring manager are worlds apart. Everyone was expecting that I apply, and in fact were looking for my resume. As HR produced the list of eligible candidates, I was, to everyone's surprise, not on the list.

How is it that I work (successfully) in a position for two years, only to find out that some lady in HR didn't feel my resume was a good match for that exact same position? That incident begs a larger question...

It is sort of an inside joke that Federal workers are often unqualified for their jobs (that is a very general statement, mind you). So why would I not find it surprising that 1) the person to be hired into this position would be unqualified, and 2) the HR person responsible for finding qualified candidates is actually qualified to find these candidates? Just a question.

So, now I am going to embark on this elaborate string of phone calls to inside folk to remedy all this. But, why does it all have to be such an ordeal? What would have made this all very straight forward would be to have a qualifier in the job posting: all unqualified candidates need apply. That would save everyone so much trouble!