Filter Results From 'STUFF' Function - sql-server

Question

I need to filter the results from my STUFF function which are held in the column 'combined_ops'. I need to only see records that do not contain the word 'Transfer'. I've tried the classic WHERE combined_ops NOT LIKE '%transfer%', but does not work. See my code and results and please let me know where I went wrong. Thank You.
SELECT Job, STUFF((SELECT DISTINCT ' ' + Operation_Service
FROM dbo.Job_Operation
WHERE dbo.Job_Operation.Job = dbo.Job.Job
for xml path('')),1,2,'') AS combined_ops
FROM dbo.Job
WHERE dbo.Job.Status = 'Active'
AND dbo.Job.Customer_PO = 'tmi stock'
enter image description here

Answer 1

There are a few ways to do this.
You can put the FOR XML in a CROSS APPLY and filter afterwards
SELECT
j.Job,
jo.combined_ops
FROM dbo.Job j
CROSS APPLY (SELECT
STUFF((SELECT DISTINCT ' ' + jo.Operation_Service
FROM dbo.Job_Operation jo
WHERE jo.Job = j.Job
for xml path(''), type
).value('text()[1]','nvarchar(max)'),1,2,'')
) AS jo(combined_ops)
WHERE j.Status = 'Active'
AND j.Customer_PO = 'tmi stock'
AND jo.combined_ops NOT LIKE '%transfer%'
Or you can use HAVING and conditional aggregation
SELECT Job,
STUFF((
SELECT ' ' + jo.Operation_Service
(
SELECT jo.Operation_Service
FROM dbo.Job_Operation jo
WHERE jo.Job = j.Job
GROUP BY jo.Operation_Service
HAVING COUNT(CASE WHEN jo.Operation_Service LIKE '%transfer%' THEN 1 END) = 0
) jo
for xml path(''), type
).value('text()[1]','nvarchar(max)'),1,2,'') AS combined_ops
FROM dbo.Job j
WHERE j.Status = 'Active'
AND j.Customer_PO = 'tmi stock'
Note the use of the syntax for xml path(''), type).value('text()[1]','nvarchar(max)') to unescape XML characters correctly.
Note also the use of table aliases rather than three part column names.