I work for a huge company and there are so many roles I don’t apply for as you know the hiring manager already has someone lined up but they have to follow the rules, anytime I have bothered to apply surprise surprise the person we knew was going to get the role got it, it’s so frustrating and they wonder why people leave!This is exactly what happened to my husband. He applied for a job that he was absolutely qualified for. It's quite niche. Before he applied we actually discussed that it was probably already earmarked for someone internally because of the way it was written. He didn't make the paper sift!
He wasn't bothered because he's content doing contract work at the moment but it did make us both roll our eyes.
This is my rant ... if you have a post you can fill internally why bother with external applications? ( I know it's the law) What an absolute waste of time and effort for everyone involved. Just a huge paper exercise.