Been for an interview - they told my employer!

[Andy G Bmth]

Hi all

i need some advice as i went for a job interview about 3 months ago for a position in the same industry but working for a contractor rather than a consumer business.

Anyway, 3 weeks after the interview they had a meeting with the senior managers of the company regarding us contracting out some work and as i am a department manager it is par for the course to be introduced to them.

after this, they actually turned round to them and said do you know he came for a job inerview with us a couple of weeks ago?

since then it has made working there very difficult and have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job over another aspect when before i one of the most trusted employees and been there for 6 years now.

surely, they cannot disclose this information, but where do i stand legally with this? especially as the moment i dont know if i can continue working there with all the politics going on.

[JustinP1]

They should have really had the nouse to keep that confidential. Thats not good form at all.

It would be very difficult to take any legal action or anything like that though I believe, so I would draw a line under that.

It is a difficult situation though, and without knowing the nature of the other issue they have with you it is diffuclt to advise how much of a 'ballsy' response you could get away with.

In most of these cases though they get out of hand, often to unsalvagable levels when an employee doesnt like their job and is actively looking for alternative work whilst not airing any of their views with their employer or giving them the chance to affor a promotion/better pay/better conditions of whatever was being sought elsewhere.

Your employer now has you marked as someone who is actively looking to jump ship 'behind his back'. This of course does go on, and often covertly, and in some situations for example if you have just been disciplined airing your views is not recommended, but now it is out in the open you really have but two choices.

Firstly you could sit it out as you are. As you have said you should be treated as one of their best employees, but now they don't trust you. Chnaces of being promoted or advanced if you sit it out are next to nothing.

My advice since you are on a hiding to nothing anyway is to *tactfully* explain your reasons for going to an interview with the other employer, and how you could give your employer more in your own job. As an employer myself I have had a situation where an employee was looking for jobs during work time and this didn't gain my trust at all. On the other hand an employee had a full and frank conversation about what they wanted in their career, and I realised that realistically I could not offer them what they wanted, and told them that and they went off to other interviews with my complete blessing and even talked about how their interviews went when they got back!

[CUE99T]

I would ignore it and work it that if they don't make it better for you to stay you will go, so get a few other interviews and jobs lined up then make them aware you've got other options.

Worst case is to let them think they have the upper hand.

I never ever let that happen and would leave myself in the lurch to not let anyone thing they "owned" me as your there to do a job not be harrassed and stressed. Life is hard enough without people like these.


Best of luck
Paul

[HiRich]

JustinP1 said:

My advice since you are on a hiding to nothing anyway is to *tactfully* explain your reasons for going to an interview with the other employer, and how you could give your employer more in your own job.

I'm with Justin and think you face up to it.
First, it was astonishingly inept, or underhand, of the contractor to mention it. At the very least, it doesn't sound like the sort of group you want to be working for. Treat that as a lucky escape.
As for going to the interview, well in some way trust has been dented, but people look for other jobs. Did you approach them, or did they advertise? Were they offering more money or responsibility?

Prepare your thoughts, bullet point, then go see your boss (or bosses' boss) to clear the air. Things to consider might be:
- It takes two to tango. You may have been considering leaving, but equally the contractor was willing to consider poaching their staff.
- It was astonishingly inept. Perhaps you might cast doubt - was it a deliberate attempt to undermine you? Should you consider someone who did this trustworthy?
- Why were you considering leaving? Perhaps your employer should be doing something more?
You may not get much out of it. But the least you should expect is a bit of respect from your boss for fronting up.

[ATG]

Frank conversation with your current employer to try to clear the air has to be the way to go. I must say, I'd be incandescent with fury if an interviewer had done this to me. It represents the most enormous breach of confidence which could clearly do you serious harm, but I doubt you have any practical recourse against them.

[Broomsticklady]

No help to the OP, but it's not as uncommon as it should be - I went for an interview with an NHS Trust and before they called me for interview they asked for reference from my then employer without my permission which screwed me up really well!! I should have pursued with them but didn't for personal reasons at the time - but it still rankles!!

[Vesuvius 996]

Face up to it.

Frank open discussion with employer to clear the air.


Write a very stiff letter to the idiots who blabbed.

[Smiler.]

Andy G Bmth said:

....have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job....

Have I mis-understood what you said here? Is it a dismissible offence to attend a prospective job interview?

[JustinP1]

Smiler. said:

Andy G Bmth said:

....have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job....

Have I mis-understood what you said here? Is it a dismissible offence to attend a prospective job interview?

I think you may have!

Andy G Bmth with three more words included said:

...actually been told i was lucky to keep my job over another aspect...

On a serious matter though, it is the type of thing which employers don't really like. I have seen it from both sides. For example, a middle manager could be championing an employee for his commitment to the company and his future then he finds out that they have been going for interviews.

One man's 'wanting to better myself' is another man's 'jumping ship'.

You can't get sacked for it, but in the important office political situation, I think the OP may have to rectify his position quickly or just move on.

[M400 NBL]

Smiler. said:

Andy G Bmth said:

....have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job....

Have I mis-understood what you said here? Is it a dismissible offence to attend a prospective job interview?

Possibly if the prospective employer is a customer of the present employer.

If you go for a job with competitors, you lose trust. You could be disclosing info....or could do if you later work for a competitor.

Not sure if this is relevant to the OP.

[Smiler.]

Blimey. Was never an issue in my game.

[srebbe64]

I can't beleive anyone would be so dumb! Was the interview set up by an agency, if so I'd definitely have a word with the agency. I'd also talk with the company who blabbed and tell them:

1) They acted unethically;
2) They may have materially cost you because promotion is now likely to be more difficult;
3) You would like some form of recompense;

At the very least it might cause them not to behave with such a cavalier attitude to confidentiality in future.

[NorthernBoy]

Smiler. said:

Andy G Bmth said:

....have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job....

Have I mis-understood what you said here? Is it a dismissible offence to attend a prospective job interview?

What sort of jobs to people actually have nowadays that work like this, where you only lose your job for a "dismissable" offence?

I had assumed that in most jobs, bosses could reasonably easily just shuffle you out for whatever reason they liked.

[Smiler.]

NorthernBoy said:

Smiler. said:

Andy G Bmth said:

....have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job....

Have I mis-understood what you said here? Is it a dismissible offence to attend a prospective job interview?

What sort of jobs to people actually have nowadays that work like this, where you only lose your job for a "dismissable" offence?

I had assumed that in most jobs, bosses could reasonably easily just shuffle you out for whatever reason they liked.

Unless one works for the politically correct, quota-driven local authority or the like

[Andy G Bmth]

thanks for the replies everyone

just to clarify some points

1. we have never worked with these people before i attended an interview with them.

2. yes, it was through an agency, i had the initial interview and never got to the stage of a job offer as negotiating basic salary.

3. the director knew i was unhappy with the new package i was given.

4. it was brought up in conversation whilst tendering for work rather than asking for references.


i thought in this politically correct world, thiks would have been against the data protection act or similar!

[ATG]

Smiler. said:

NorthernBoy said:

Smiler. said:

Andy G Bmth said:

....have actually been told i was lucky to keep my job....

Have I mis-understood what you said here? Is it a dismissible offence to attend a prospective job interview?

What sort of jobs to people actually have nowadays that work like this, where you only lose your job for a "dismissable" offence?

I had assumed that in most jobs, bosses could reasonably easily just shuffle you out for whatever reason they liked.

Unless one works for the politically correct, quota-driven local authority or the like

Err, uhm ... no. The kind of difficult employee who you might want to get shot of simply because they are a pain is exactly the same kind of person who would squeal "I know my rights" and drag you off to an employment tribunal unless you have dotted every i and crossed every t as you negotiated the route through your firm's disciplinary procedures. It isn't particularly easy to sack employees.