Xjyuk

I had a talk with the manager of a technical department at a big sized company I've been doing some work with as a consultant. She told me they are looking for technical people and if I'd like to work with them at a specific technical position. I said yes and she was very enthusiastic.

This company is particularly structured and full of red tape. Before applying for the position and have an interview with the manager (I basically already had this interview as mentioned above) I had to take a 3 hours role/group play non-technical evaluation session with other 8 candidates who wanted to apply for different non-technical positions.

The result of this evaluation session was negative. Basically, HR says I don't know how to work in a group, make an argument, take a decision and so on. There were no comments I can only infer this because those were the skills being evaluated, apparently.

At this point I do not know what to do next. The manager wants me to get on board and I have a strong track record of references that can prove I can do what HR in a 3 hours evaluation deemed me unable to. What would be the correct course of action? Do I apply? I tried to ask HR more information on their decision but they have been dead silent.

Continue to work for this company as a consultant.

Conspire with that friendly manager to enlarge your contribution until it is essentially full time or even more.

Charge three times what you would have made as a permanent employee.

Every time you pass the door to HR shake your head sadly and chuckle to yourself.

The answer depends on how the company actually performs hiring -- is HR the gatekeeper with the final say, or does HR give advice, and managers do the actual hiring.

The first thing is that hectoring HR, or walking past and making noises and faces, is just horrible advice. If I were the hiring manager and I saw you doing that, I'd consider it childish and unprofessional, and then I'd figure out how to avoid keeping you around as a consultant.

Right now you have a strong ally with the manager who holds your contract relationship. Work on that relationship. Then take the feedback from HR to heart and see what you can do to either prove you have the skills or fix your weaknesses. What you absolutely don't want to do is embarrass the hiring manager by treating HR poorly, or cranking up your billing rate as a way to force someones hand. Act like a mature professional, overcome what sounds like a bad impression, and you're more likely to be successful in the long run.

At this point I do not know what to do next. The manager wants me to
get on board and I have a strong track record of references that can
prove I can do what HR in a 3 hours evaluation deemed me unable to.
What would be the correct course of action?

Talk to the manager. Explain what you think happened with HR and that you'd still like to work for the company. See what the manager can do about it.

The reality is that the manager may or may not be able to override HR. And he may or may not be willing to do so.

Leave it in the manager's hands and see what happens.

IF you still want the job, then yes you still apply. Tell your manager you failed their "test" and ask him to request that you be considered regardless. You manager either has enough pull to override HR's decision or not. There's only one way to find out for sure.

If he doesn't have the pull, then you do what @A.I.Breveleri says and continue working as a consultant.

What do you mean "Do I apply?" Isn't that how you got to the 3 hour ordeal?

I have been in your shoes. Several of my jobs I've gotten because I have known someone who gave the hiring manager my resume. The manager put my name through, and I was good.

On another occasion being manager's choice was irrelevant. I did not get the job because it was a well-known market research/survey company. They prided themselves on their research abilities, and they made me take a personality test. The results of the personality test told me I wasn't the "type of candidate" they were looking for. No matter how much I protested, I got nowhere. I took my argument to the head of HR. She wouldn't budge.

HR is the gatekeeper for many companies. If you don't get past their bureaucracy, you won't get in. You can apply, and perhaps it'll work out, but there's a good chance they simply won't let you through, and that's that.