I have a sad friend.

My friend had applied for a promotion last year. She is a police officer and she wants to be a detective. She didn't do so well in the process and consequently, she did not get promoted. She decided to try again this year.

This year, she aced the exam and got the highest score of all the applicants. Then came the interviews. She aced the interviews and got the highest ranking of all the applicants. The other detectives wanted her to be the next one added to their group. Other supervisors recommended her. The lieutenant in charge of the process placed her first on his list of recommendations. This recommendation list was forwarded to the chief.

The chief reviewed the rankings list. The chief chose someone else. Someone that wasn't even on this recommendation list. My friend does not know why she was passed up and she is very sad. I just spent two hours on the phone with her, trying to help her through this. Part of me wants her to go stomping into the chief's office to demand an explanation. Part of me wants her to just put her shoulder to the wheel and try again next year. Part of me wants ME to go stomping into the chief's office to demand an explanation!

I think I finally persuaded her to go talk to someone. She feels like she can't trust anyone in the office to talk to. I finally suggested she call an old co-worker who was more of a mentor during his time there. I hope that will help. I feel helpless and I really don't like that feeling.