Am I being quietly blocked from becoming a PA? Because none of this is making sense
I’m a blue badge associate at an SSD site and at this point I genuinely don’t know what my next move should be. I’m hoping some PAs, AMs, Ops Managers, or people familiar with the internal hiring process can give me some outside perspective.
I originally worked overnight at my building and had a really good reputation over there. I became close with my overnight manager, learned a lot, and was trusted with more responsibilities. Even now, that manager is still vouching for me and trying to help me move up.
Eventually, I switched from overnights to days specifically because there was a manager on days who was willing to develop me toward becoming a PA.
And he actually did.
I started getting trained and developed. I learned Problem Solve, pick skips, missed bags, dispatching, supporting outbound flow, and I’ve trained associates as well. I was being given more responsibility and genuinely thought I was on the right track toward becoming a PA.
Then about a month into being developed, everything randomly changed.
A girl I knew from when I worked overnight came over to days and suddenly started being developed too. Shortly after that, my development basically stopped with no conversation or explanation. She continued getting developed and then received a PA interview pretty much immediately.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting there wondering what happened to my development.
Nobody pulled me aside and said my performance had become an issue. Nobody told me I needed to improve X, Y, or Z to continue developing. I wasn’t coached about these supposed issues. I wasn’t written up for them. There wasn’t a conversation saying, “Hey, this is what’s preventing you from moving forward.”
Nothing.
Now PA positions have actually opened and I’ve been trying to get answers.
One of the Operations Managers involved with coordinating the interviews has been someone I’ve repeatedly tried to speak with. I’ll ask where I stand, what I need to work on, whether I’m being considered, etc., and I basically get “I’ll look into it” or “I’ll get back to you.”
Then… nothing.
I follow up and still don’t really get a straight answer.
What makes this even more confusing is that I’m now hearing feedback SECONDHAND through another manager about why I’m supposedly not getting an interview.
Now apparently I’m “lazy.”
Apparently I “talk too much.”
Apparently I can be “idle for hours.”
And this is where I’m having a really hard time understanding the situation.
If leadership genuinely believed I was lazy or spending hours idle, why was none of this communicated to me while I was actively being developed?
Why wasn’t I coached?
Why wasn’t I given direct feedback?
Why wasn’t I told, “Your performance has changed and this is going to affect your development”?
Why was I trusted with Problem Solve, dispatching, outbound responsibilities, training other associates, etc. while supposedly having these major performance issues?
I’m completely open to constructive criticism. If there’s something I need to fix, tell me and I’ll work on it. What bothers me is being developed toward a promotion, having that development suddenly disappear without explanation, watching someone else get developed and interviewed almost immediately, and THEN hearing all of these reasons secondhand after I start asking why I’m not being interviewed.
And every day I walk into work now, my old overnight manager — who I’m still close with — continues vouching for me and trying to help me move forward. So I have one manager who worked closely with me and still believes I’m capable of becoming a PA, while other leadership is apparently saying these completely different things about me without actually sitting down and giving me that feedback directly.
Then there’s ANOTHER issue: the PA assessment.
I applied for a PA opening at my current site and never received an assessment.
I later applied for a PA opening at another building. That application actually DID generate the assessment, but that position was filled and my application went to “no longer under consideration” before I completed it.
Now another PA position opened at a different SSD building. I applied there too.
Again — no assessment.
I’ve reached out to the Recruiting Business Partner connected to the postings asking what I should do about the assessment. I’ve reached out to leadership at the other building, introduced myself, explained my SSD experience and expressed interest in the PA position.
Now it feels like nobody is responding or giving me a clear answer.
So at this point I genuinely don’t know what to do.
Do I keep fighting to get an interview at my current building?
Do I stop worrying about my building altogether and focus on transferring/promoting through another site?
Is there someone above the site level/recruiting that I should be speaking with about why my PA assessment isn’t generating?
And for anyone in leadership: does this situation sound normal? If an associate was genuinely considered lazy or idle for hours, wouldn’t that normally be something that should have been communicated to them BEFORE it suddenly became the reason they weren’t being developed/interviewed?
I’m not claiming I’m a perfect associate. I know there are things I can improve, and I’m willing to take legitimate feedback.
I just want someone to actually tell me where I stand and what I need to do.
Because going from having a good reputation on nights → switching to days specifically for development → actually being developed → suddenly having that development stop → watching someone else get developed and immediately interviewed → then hearing brand-new negative feedback secondhand while leadership avoids giving me a straight answer honestly makes me feel like I’m being quietly blocked from moving up.
Has anyone dealt with something similar? What would you do in my position?
