I applied for a permanent academic job a while back. I was objectively the better candidate according to neutral people in the room during my presentations and interviews.

It's a three day process. On the evening of the second day, it was clear that some powerful people in the jury had decided the other candidate would get the job. It was not even worth it to come back the third day for what would be a formality as there was no way for me to win the game anymore.

I decided to have the hard conversation though. I'd go to the last interview, and instead of giving my presentation, I'd use the first 5 minutes to speak my mind.

Even though i did not say it explicitly, every spectator could hear me accusing them of corruption. The conversation was quite one sided in the end~~

This was a very difficult conversation for me to have, as i am also very non-confrontational. I hate conflict.

I felt vindicated in my decision to speak up as i ended up winning the last day's competition, even though it wasn't sufficient to get the job.