Caught interviewing and asked to leave

Most interviewers use their common sense and realize they should probably not mention that their target is looking for a job when talking to said target's boss.

However, situations like yours can happen - small world. Could've been in the same analyst class, could have been friends in college, their kids might play on the same basketball team etc..He probably wanted some intel on you before offering you the position.

For future reference though, if you don't want your current firm to know you're looking for opportunities, you need to always tell the recruiter/interviewer that you want it kept confidential.

Wow, that interviewer really owes you a job now.

Do hiring managers really go to "networking events"?

Damn that’s just a stroke of bad luck. Sorry to hear it, dude. It’s a shame how bad things are with respect to labor supply that a manager feels confident stomping around like that.

Companies should be willing to let workers interview with who ever they want and if you get an offer they can either give you a better offer or just deal with it. Companies should also be willing to let their workers know of other opportunities that their employees might be interested in.

This sucks and there isn't much you can do here. But I'd take two steps:

1. Make it clear your boss doesn't know you're looking in any future interview, and request that they not contact your firm. If they push back, you can agree that they can call after you've accepted an offer but must check with you first.

2. There's no point in sueing or making a huge public deal out of it, you'll come out looking bad too, and they haven't done anything illegal, just crappy. However, I would ABSOLUTELY reach out to this person's superiors and HR department to let them know both that they informed your boss that you were job hunting and that it directly led to your job loss. Do it professionally, maybe they have somewhere else they can refer you to. But more importantly, this person needs to be disciplined internally so that this issue doesn't occur with other future candidates.

If you're part of a 2 year program, I don't think it's unfair to approach your boss and try to explain to him in a friendly, mollifying way that just because you're interviewing elsewhere does not mean that you intend to shirk your duties at your current firm.

Even if not part of a 2 year program, I again don't think it's unfair to approach your boss and explain that you were interviewing to "stay fresh"/"keep in practice", or because it "seemed like an interesting opportunity and I wanted to hear more".

I have never had a prick boss so perhaps I don't understand how it is. But personally, I have never been too guarded about the fact that I'm looking when I'm looking. There is no shame in wanting better things for yourself as long as your employer feels that you are still delivering on a day-to-day basis, and feels that you will not screw them over by leaving without transitioning matters. It's a soft skills thing, but if you are good enough at what you do and well-respected enough, I don't think your boss' incentives would be to fire you. That causes more disruption than keeping you on while he finds a replacement.

If you really want to stay, you need to impart that you looked around out of curiosity and it just affirmed your desire to be where you already are.

Also, if you didn't know this, don't quit under pressure. Make them fire you. Unemployment/severance/ etc all are void if you quit. There's really no downside to making them pull the trigger first.

If you are an "at will" employee, you are legally allowed to interview elsewhere while at your current firm

Document all correspondence with the prospective company. Speak with an labor attorney. That shit is out of bounds. The only plausible scenario I can think of how this came about is the manager said "I work for x". and prospective company replied "Some great people over there, I met with Y recently" without realizing its your manager.

If it was deliberate, you may have a case.

This has happened to me once as well. The CEO of my medium sized company found out I was interviewing with a competitor and my boss called me one day after work to let me know. My reply was "ok, so what does this mean?". They were just trying to intimidate a young kid.

These things get pretty murky but once an org knows you're looking or you yourself mentally start focusing on new opps, it's best to see it through.

wcfever you interviewed with a dickweed...a tumbling tumbling dickweed.

1) you are allowed to interview and see what opportunities are available for you out in the market, and you should be able to say this without fear of being fired, so long as it does not interfere with your current job performance. (i'm aware this is idealist...tho not realist) 2) if your current employer values you, they will accept that you will receive offers elsewhere, and they will try to convince you to stay. 3) you said you were "asked to leave"....language here matters....if just "asked", you can say "no thanks, i'd prefer to stay"...however, if they say "you are fired...security will escort you out" then you should ask "why?" and see what they say (they might not give a reason, or they might say something stupid that you can use against them in a lawsuit). 4) Then walk out the door and contact a labor attorney.

5) contact the firm you interviewed with, politely explain the situation, and politely ask if they can help you find another job, because it was their fault you were fired from your job. If they say they can't help, ask them to make a few phone calls and ask their peers at other firms if they have any open slots for your level. I've seen people do this in this exact situation, and it resulted in a job referral.

Wait... Is that even legal? To sack someone because they're interviewing at someone's firm....

I feel like they broke a company policy by doing this. Read the interviewer's company policy about this and let them know what happened. They'll probably offer you to not get sued lol

https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/wrongful-interference-wi…

Wrongful Interference with Employment Relationship: When a person other than an employer intentionally interferes with another person's employment relationship and thereby causes the other person to lose his/her job, that interfering person might be liable for the economic losses that result.

The person damaged by the interference (the employee) will usually need to prove the following things in order to sue:

1) There was an existing employment relationship; 2) The person who caused the interference was a third party to the relationship (i.e. the relationship was not between the person damaged and the person who interfered); 3) The third party's conduct interfered with the relationship; 4) The third party intended to interfere; and 5) The third party's conduct caused the employee's termination.

In most states, the employee also needs to prove that the third party was not justified in interfering with the employment relationship.

Skank speaking: you have a slamdunk case of tortious interference with an employment relationship. I'm currently looking for a new job and your story makes my blood boil. Sue that motherfucker for all he's worth. No, sue his company. He fucked you over in his capacity with his company.

If you were in good standing prior to this (we all assume so)...then assuming you went on to a standard illustrious career in the investment banking path --> analyst, associate --> VicePres --> managing director...you should be able to win a lawsuit (and they would most likely settle) for something in the range of 10 million (the total comp that you will now be denied because of their interference).

Think you hit the nail on the head, this is just pure bad luck. As bfd already said, bad form on the part of the interviewer.

Edit: FWIW, I wouldn't want to work for either of these scumbags

Appreciate all your inputs. It doesn't make sense for me to file a complain against the firm that ratted me out cause they have the resources to protect them and furthermore its just my word against my employer's word like what some have pointed out.

However, what should I do in the future to avoid such instances? Should I indicate my company's name as confidential on my resume? Any suggestions?

Appreciate all your inputs. Thank you.

This legal case is not going to happen. He is not going to get fired with the cause stated as 'going to the interview.' Maybe his boss does want to fire him and will fire him, but it won't be stated as this reason.

If they want to fire him, they are going to start picking up dirt on him and making a paper trail of warnings to eventually fire him.

I'm reading the original post though and the phrase 'my firm is likely to ask me to leave' seems highly speculative. Maybe you're just in the dog house for a week. Everyone interviews at other firms. If this is legit, it's ridiculous, unless you lied about where you were that day.

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Dont know which jurisdiction you are in but there are laws that protect prospective employees. But you would have to have concrete proof of that in the form of emails etc not verbal. The person penalised would be the person from the firm that you were applying for. Realistically you wouldnt have any solid proof. Probably you'd get circumstantial proof to hold up in court. Consult a lawyer with your case. Yes it costs money but it depends on how far you want to take this.

Piss poor form by your interviewer, but I would seriously not try to do anything to them. Even if you get fired, better to take the lump and move on. I know it sucks, but you could seriously do more damage than good trying to exact revenge in this scenario. If you go the lawyer route, you may be industry black balled for quite a while. Sorry this happened to you. Hope a great opportunity comes your way and your success will be revenge enough.

That was a really jackass move on the interviewer's part. That sort of thing just isn't done. It could be that he's looking to jump ship too and needed some brownie points. Either way, dick move. If you get word you're about to get fired, I would reach out to the interviewer and say that you are getting fired as a direct result of his action and he needs to make it right (i.e. hire you). If he dodges the issue or you, I would say you should seriously think about a civil case. To that end, see if you can get your boss to admit why they're firing you (if they are), on paper, that will help you pretty much draw a line from cause to effect from that other guy's actions. Good luck.

I’m assuming the best from people when I say this. Having interviewed hundreds of employment candidates over the years, it is possible that company leadership know one another casually well before candidates show up to interview. We should frankly assume this to be true. Conversations can and do happen between friends if there is no compelling reason for them not to.

One small prevenatative measure can go a long way: be explicit about the fact that you’re interviewing and your current employer does not know that you’re doing this. Ask for discretion. I can’t imagine anyone I know from an HR department who would violate that request if it was made explicit.

I would simply caveat that if you make a comment like this in an interview, also be clear: 1. That if you do get an offer, that you will owe your current employer the respect of adequate notice and don’t plan to jump ship without notice (this can make you look bad) 2. That you explored the options available to you through your current employer, and they either don’t exist or they come with a condition that you can’t meet (like you would have to move to some small island that serves only food you’re allergic to). 3. That a career path in your new company is something you want as opposed to your soon-to-be ex-company for X reasons. A good interviewer will ask you this anyway. They won’t likely want to hire a naturally disloyal or quick to disappear employee.

Be smart enough to be both honest and sensitive to everyone involved.

It’s always smart to be interviewing and networking. You need to keep an idea of what your market value is. It’s a great negotiating tactic for bonuses, promotions and salary bumps if you can point to comps. So you got blown up. It’s gonna happen over and over again during your career. At least your employer now knows you’re a hustler and won’t sit around waiting for them to pay you what you deserve.

Isn't there some sort of inherent confidentiality in applying for a job? Or even a clause in the terms and conditions saying your candidature is in confidence? Regarding background checks, these are in the T&Cs when applying i.e. only after receiving a formal offer, and even then, often requiring you to sign a disclosure allowing the company to do so!?

Of course they can google you for info in the public domain before offer but asking people specifically about you would be crossing the line in light of the confidentiality of your application. And talking at the kids baseball game in a weekend is off limits here. These guys are in banking and should know how far reaching insider trading rules extend so similarly should also be aware of any other confidentiality issues.

Your company sucks for sacking you for looking for a job and your interviewer is a freaking amateur. No surprises really, bankers may earn the dollars but they're really no different to the desk jockeys in other industries.

consider yourself lucky.

if you're boss was really a douche, he'd play games with you.

here's what I'd do.

1) congratuate you on your ambitions 2) offer you an immediate (large) pay raise to make you stay 3) the day after your raise kicks in, immediately humilate you in front of the office for some menial bullshit 4) fire your ass over said menial (made up) bullshit.

again, consider yourself lucky.

Bad luck. The interviewer is a moron.

Shit situation. Some of the advice given here seems fine, but I would be contacting a good employment lawyer if I were you. It's better to get advice from someone who probably deals with this on a day-to-day basis. Document everything.

Even if you don't get fired, you could possibly be retaliated against in other ways: work taken away, avoided, blacklisted, not promoted when you deserve it...

Who is to say that other firm was even going to give you an offer? But, if you were eliminated from the process because of that interaction at the networking event, that seems discriminatory to me. This interviewer's actions could have put your current job in jeopardy and you could now work in a hostile environment.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and don't claim to be an expert on the letter of the law.