Wishing good luck to old colleague who is applying to work at my firm?

[ladythatlunches84]

My department is very open and we have been discussing the applicants that have responded to a recent job advert.

I know one of the applicants from my previous place of work and sent them a fb message earlier saying I'm glad to hear they've applied and wishing them luck (I also said there is more than 1 position available and that there are currently only 6 applicants but didn't give any other info) as I thought it would be nice for them to know and have some reassurance.

They haven't replied but they've read my message. I'm now worrying that they're offended/unhappy that I wished them luck or that they're unhappy that I know they've applied, as I've not heard anything back.

Am I worrying over nothing? Might be pregnancy hormones or I maybe I should've just not mentioned anything. This person has been on lots of interviews for other positions in other companies so it's not a secret they're looking to change employers (but I haven't told anybody apart from the message I sent them)

Maybe send another saying please be assured I have not discussed this with anyone outside the company if you think they are upset at a possible breach of confidentiality.

I don't think you should have told her you'd seen her application. I think that's massively overstepping and if I was her I'd feel really uncomfortable about it. But i know you meant well!

I think you should not have messaged her. I also think you and your colleagues should not be openly discussing applications in the office.

That was highly unprofessional of you to contact them at all. Maybe it's put them off continuing with their application as they're concerned you're going to continue putting your nose into things that are none of your business. YWBU to contact them about it at all. Now if they do continue with the application and don't get the job, they'll feel even worse about it as you told them that only 6 people applied.

I think sending her a FB message was very unprofessional.

It wasn't your place to say how many people had applied, or that there was more than one position available. (A fact i'm assuming wasn't clear in the original advert.)

@Ginger1982 I haven't seen the application. I said in my message 'hello, I heard through the grapevine at work today that you have applied and wanted to wish you the best of luck. There are only 6 applicants so far for 3 positions and have sung your praises to my line manage. All the best'
I feel awful that they haven't replied and am so worried they feel I've been unreasonable in well wishing them :(

Aw - I think that's a nice message and one I'd be glad to receive!

Oh dear. That's probably a huge data breach. I'd be really pissed off if I'd received a message like that. Say nothing more. As my dad would say when you are in a hole stop digging.

This is why people get sacked at work. Gossip within departments about who has applied for jobs gets back to the applicant's current place of work soooooo easily and if the applicant is in their first two years, poof and their job is gone and they might not get the new job and then they are stuffed.

And yes, it has happened to me. It was pointless putting "do not contact my referees without notice" on the form, if my old work found out anyway 😔 And I didn't get the new job anyway 😔 And then was not earning and out on my ear within days with no pay off obviously 😔

So yes, if it were my department now, people knowing who did not need to know wouldn't be allowed, and if anyone followed up on it, it would be a formal warning to them.

and have sung your praises to my line manage.

Personally I think that's an awful thing to say. Now if she gets the job she will think it's because of this, rather than because she did a good interview or her skills / experience.

Thanks all. I was so happy they had applied and wanted to be supportive :( in my previous employment we openly discussed such things in the office too so didn't think they would mind but the lack of response is worrying me. I wish I hadn't said anything.

Hopefully they're just busy and haven't had a chance to respond

@ladythatlunches84 if it were me, I'd have gone to HR or the Head of Department and complained. Do not be surprised if you get a disciplinary over this.

You have seriously overstepped the mark and could be sacked. I hope she was a good colleague who liked you and won't complain.
It really is none of your business and you shouldn't have done it, good luck.
Ask HR to come into your office with the oher gossips and clarify the law, and their policies and procedures for data protection.

If you aren't involved in the selection process, it is very inappropriate that you have access to any information about who has/hasn't applied. Whoever is managing the process really should know better.

If I was on the receiving end of a message like that I’d be utterly fucked off and not want to work there

Given how gossipy the workplace is and she hasn’t even started working there id run a mile

I think you are getting their hopes up. If I read that message I'd be thinking it looked pretty promising

I’m a very relaxed person but am currently going through the job application process and people finding out I am looking terrifies me. I think you’ve been inappropriate, if I was her I would be worried about gossip getting back to my current employer. I’m also 99% sure you shouldn’t know who is applying for jobs for data protection reasons.

If I got that message I'd worry who else knew about my application. Surely it shouldn't be public knowledge when you apply for a job?

I'd be really pissed off if I'd applied for a job and received an email like that as its shows that you can't recognise when to be professional. I'd be wary of telling you anything if I ended up working with you because I'd think you'd have trouble keeping it quiet.

That is really not on, although your intention was to be encouraging.
Data breach, shows a lack of confidentiality in the workplace. If they don’t get the job, they may make a complaint. If they do, they’ll have to look thankful that you recommended them. You’ve told them how many people there are applying and the number of roles, that you’ve recommended them, so if they don’t get it they will feel they are really crap!

I had a similar situation- in my case I was approached by my manager and asked if I knew ‘former colleague’ she had the same background as me- I did know her, I told my manager I thought she’d be a good hire but I didn’t message her until it had been announced that she’d accepted the role and then it was only to say congrats.

I know you meant well but you’ve really overstepped here. You’ve possibly breached some HR policy by telling her about how many other applicants there have been. If she doesn’t get the job she’ll feel shit knowing there were only 6 applicants for 3 roles. If she does she’ll probably feel beholden to you for ‘singing her praises’. And she probably feels embarrassed as it sounds like her CV is being passed around to everyone at the company and you’re all talking about her.

I’m not sure what you can do now, just wait and see I suppose but definitely do not message her again.

Sorry OP you obviously meant well but I agree with others that it’s very unprofessional, especially giving information about number of other applicants etc. Presumably she knew you worked there and hadn’t contacted you to let you know she was applying, so I’d imagine didn’t want your input. I think she’s unlikely to complain, in a way she may be glad to know what you’ve told her, but I’d just be really careful about sharing information like that in future, where I work you’d be in quite a bit of trouble if anyone found out.

This is highly unprofessional practice! Why were the applications openly discussed? If you're not involved with the selection and recruitment, you should not have any access or knowledge of the applications and I would distance myself from the process in the future.

I know your intentions were good, but now you've basically told them that the whole office has been gossiping about the applicants, 'I heard on the grapevine', ouch!

Be very, very careful in future, heads should roll over this massive breach of data, from you to the recruitment personnel to their manager.

I'm a bit concerned that everyone is assuming in gossiping and telling anyone and everyone. I only know they've applied as I used to work with them and my line manager asked me what they were like to work with.
We're in quite a niche job and there aren't many people in the area that work in our trade 
I haven't discussed applicants with anybody and only wished that individual luck as I am friendly enough with them to be Facebook friends.
I haven't told anybody else at all and I only meant it as a friendly gesture. Thanks for the responses, I won't send any more messages.

*My department is very open and we have been discussing the applicants that have responded to a recent job advert.

I know one of the applicants from my previous place of work*

This reads that you were discussing all the applicants, not just your manager asking your advice about this one person.