Why do companies advertise for employees with a specialty license and then promote internally ?

Question

I recently applied for a job with a major Pharmacy/Retailer who advertised for a licensed professional Cosmetologist.
I wasted two weeks driving, being interviewed twice, and then the disppointment of finding out that they promote internally throughout the company so this means it was a waste of time for me. I find out the store is going to promote someone from the store into this department who does not have the expertise or the license to give advise to customers with issues, advise, and the correct cosmetic/haircolor/haircare needs. Why do they even bother to post these jobs?
If you want an expert in a special field then you hire one.
Do they run these ads as an equal oportunity employer because they have too? If they are going to hire within the store and promote first then why do they allow professionals like myself to bother to take the time when they know they have no intention on hiring us in the first place.Has anyone else had this happen to them?

Answer 1

The bigger the company, the more rules they have regarding hiring. They might have a rule that says they CANNOT promote from within until they've interviewed a certain number of candidates. I know of one company that always puts their ads in the newspaper that no one ever reads (we have 2 newspapers in my city, one's legit and widely read, the other is run by a cult I think) because they DON'T want people to apply--- they've got a candidate in mind but can't promote them unless no qualified applicants turn up. The company I work for does the opposite--- when they have a certain person in mind for a job, they write the job description in such a way that no one already on staff would be qualified to apply. That lets them bring their own ringer in without having to turn any of us down.

There's a lot of reasons why a company may run an interview but not really intend to do any hiring. There's not a lot you can do about it; that's just the way the world works. Keep looking for a job and try not to carry how bitter you are about this situation into your next interview. One day you will probably be the underqualified one being promoted from within and someone else will be thinking the same thing about you.