A job i've applied for has contacted my employer BEFORE interview now what do I do?

[Eddas]

I was hauled into my bosses office today because he's received an email re a job I applied for. I hadn't heard from them at all and the interview date is Tues 29th so I presumed I had been unsucessful.

On my application form (inline) there was no where to state do not contact prior to interview so I attached a letter asking them not to.

I rang them and asked if I had been selected for interview and they checked and said yes (to my suprise) Then I asked if it was usual to contact prior to interview and she said yes. I then said that I had asked them not to and I am now in a really ackward position.

The email to my boss also states the interview date, the interview is 9am (can't change, I did ask)

so WTF do I do?

I am so upset.

That is bad form of them, I hope they apologised. It's done now, so maybe you can turn this to your advantage - could it be a step towards some negotiation with your boss about why you're unhappy in your role? Have you thought about what your current employer could do to make you stay?

Oh no, that's terrible. A similar thing happened to me once but I actually did tick the box asking them not to ask my boss for a reference prior to interview! They apologised but that was it - I got hauled in to the boss's office and asked to explain myself which was made even more awkward by the fact he knew the other firm very well and then telephoned them (they told me this at the interview) and I suspect told them not to give me the job although I can't prove this.

However, it did shock him into giving me a wage rise as I told him that was the reason I was looking for another job.

Maybe you could work this to your advantage?

Sorry no other advice, it's shocking isn't it - this probably happens more than we realise!!

If you want this new job then you need to suck it up and go for the interview.

Pretty rotten thing for a company to do, I've never heard of anyone doing that before.

You cannot be fired for looking for another job.

she sort of apologised but didn't seem to care if i'm honest. I asked if the interview could change as they had told him when it was so it's now virtually impossible for me to go.

Thing is I'm not really looking for a job as such, saw this one and it'd be perfect so thought i'd go for it, what did I have to lose!

this is the worst thing that could've happened.

And it's my birthday

Oh dear that is really poor of the new company.

Didn't realise that this was common practise.

I just don't know what to do. If I go for the interview then I need to take the day off, but boss will know, does this matter now? probably not.

do I want to work for them? well the job looks perfect.

Happy birthday Eddas!

If I were your boss I'd want to know why you were looking for other roles and what I could do to persuade you to stay. Amazing how another company sniffing around can suddenly make an employee seem much more valuable

the new job is in a school

the online form does say they may contact refs before interview and gives no option to tick a box to say no. But I also got sent a paper form which did have the boxes. So instead I wrote a letter and attached it to the form in the bit which said 'other info'

I'm damned if I do go and damned if I don't now.

Wasn't really looking for a job before but guess i will be now

That is appalling eddas and I have never heard of anyone doing this in any of my workplaces or the jobs I've applied for. Honestly I'm shocked. What the hell did they think they were doing?

I'd be asking myself if I wanted to work for them TBH, given that they ignored your written wishes like that and dropped you in it and don't seem to be genuinely apologetic. And then saying you can't change the date after you've explained that your boss now knows?

Honestly I find this mind-boggling.

I don't know what i'll do.

Just sat crying which won't really help!

stupid thing is I haven't applied for a job in years(14 years with this employer), was so excited and now it's come back to bite me on the arse!

I was unsure whether to even apply but spoke with dh and he said go for it, what's the worst that could happen and I said 'they ask for a reference and I don't get the job'

FAB

Since your boss knows, what do you have to lose by taking the day off and going to the interview? Unless you were planning to fake a doctors appointment, which is pretty bad form, and is obviously now out of the question.

It is neither illegal nor immoral nor against your contract of employment to look for other jobs that you might prefer to your current one it is a free market. You have done nothing wrong and your boss should know that.

Don't cry Eddas!

So your boss knows. So what? There's nothing he can do about it is there. You need to do what I understand is called "styling it out". So you're an experienced professional looking around the market. It's what any person with get-go does! It's good that you've done this - shows that you're on your toes and always looking to improve yourself and not just plodding along. Chin up!!!

Have you booked the interview day as holiday?

No I wasn't going to do that, I was going to ask for an impromptu day off, if they asked why I was going to say I'd been given some birthday money and wanted to go shopping!!

Hmmm. Tricky. Will think and hope others can come up with a solution too!

sardine, no haven't booked it yet as I only know I have an interview because I rang them after work (I do 9.30-2.30)

They've written to me to say i've been shortlisted but I don't have the letter yet and if it comes tomorrow it will be whilst i'm at work.

Their admin is up the spout

I just can't understand why they write to applicants but email the referees? doesn't make any sense. If they had written to my boss it's likely I would have already booked the day off which is less bloody akward! now if I ask he will know, that's the bit I don't like. How can I ask now? Or should I just front it out? he knows so he knows. nothing I can do

Their admin is up the spout. They have rubbish ill thought out procedures. That's the long and short of it.

What did your boss say when he hauled you into the office?

Youre right, he knows now, ask for the morning off.

Btw the same happened to me. I was working and the bosses wife walks past whilst I'm serving customers and tells me she's done my reference

It's all a bit of a blur but along the lines of he wanted to know if I was going to up and leave, that he couldn't hold me to those assurances but he'd like to know. I just said that I had only applied for that one job in the whole time i'd been there and that was because of the job, I am not looking for a job but this one would be perfect. I said I hadn't actively looked just that I browse the job section (I have no idea why, just do!) and it was there so I thought i'd give it a go. He said he could see that it would fit in with my dc etc. He'd even been sent the job spec ffs.

I think he understood that it was more the job I liked the look of than I wanted to leave them, which is the case. I was umming and ahhing about applying because they are a good employer, but this is a term time only job, perfect job spec for me, and less than a mile from my house.

I told him I wasn't looking to apply for other jobs and that I hadn't even heard from them yet so was shocked he had! I said that I would like to go for the interview but was unsure i'd even get the job but if I did i'd have a real decision to make.

It was so out of the blue I had no real idea what to say

It sounds like he was quite good about it then - saying that it looked perfect - and you have been honest with him.

So you just need to say - well you know that I have that interview - I was going to ask for the morning off obviously but wasn't expecting them to contact you - so I hope it is still OK to have that morning off.

aw balls, just remembered the boss has a day off tomorrow. can't ask for the day off! and won't be able to speak to him and clear the air, do I need to do that? It's such a small workplace, I feel I should.

Ring him?
Email him?
Leave it?

I don't know.
Is there anyone at work you can decide what to so with?

Cos obviously we don't know him or you!

yeah sorry Sardine, heads not really working properly. I just need to work out if I want to go to the interview now or not. Then I can email him/other partner and ask for the day off. they'll know why, i'll know why but hey it's all done know. I just need to get my head around the fact they know and work out how to move forward.

Thank you for listening