I am still livid from what happened this morning.
Long story short is that I am an engineer in the aerospace industry. My current job has been pretty stressful, constant chaos and I haven’t felt like I have been able to apply my engineering degree in any meaningful capacity. I am constantly putting out fires and my job feels more like crisis management than anything else. I do not feel challenged as someone with a Masters in Engineering.
Because of this, and a handful of other reasons, I figured it couldn’t hurt to see what else is out there. I attended a virtual career fair for another engineering company in my area, and they decided they wanted to move forward with a more in-depth interview.
I had the interview last week and honestly, it went well. In truth, I didn’t expect to take it if they gave me an offer, even from the start, because I am familiar with the company and the pay range and I knew it likely wouldn’t compare to what I am making now.
I should preface this by saying this company and my company are in very close proximity to each other. But who cares, right?
Wrong.
I get pulled into a private room this morning by my superior in my department. He had gotten direct information from someone at the other company about my interview and what I had said.
What. The. Fuck.
Not only was it a preliminary interview, and I have not even put in an official application, they DID NOT BOTHER to ask my permission or notify me before contacting my current employer. I DID NOT provide names or numbers. If they had asked, I obviously would have said FUCK NO, because one of the reasons I am looking at leaving is the toxic “old-school” vibe of the work environment.
Who knows what my superior said to WHOEVER from my interview team he talked to, I WOULD NOT be surprised if he shat on me and my abilities due to being irritated that I am taking a look around (despite the fact that I have “exceeded expectations” on every performance review), and NOW I have to deal with a tense environment around the office and know that my departmental boss also probably knows because him and my superior are BFFs and my superior is a snake in the fucking grass.
I am fucking PISSED. OFF. Despite the fact that I never expected to seriously consider an offer from this company, WHO THE FUCK thinks it is okay to contact my direct superior WITHOUT MY CONSENT and literally SHARE DETAILS OF WHAT I HAD SAID IN MY PRIVATE INTERVIEW with them!?! In what reality does that do ANYTHING for me except sully my reputation in my current environment??
I am livid, I am furious, I cannot believe someone seriously didn’t see how fucked it was to share this information with someone in power with the job I currently have. If not for the fact that they desperately need me, I WOULD HAVE TO BE WORRIED ABOUT TERMINATION. I live in an at-will employment state and they could FIRE me for something like this.
I KNOW for a fact that the interview itself went well, and if not for the fact that my superior somehow was able to get a word in, I KNOW an offer would be extended. It still could be but it hasn’t even been a week yet so I don’t know what to expect now that I know they’ve been talking to my superior. I know when I bomb an interview, and I know when I do well. They liked me. So if they don’t extend an offer, I
genuinely feel I can have confidence it is due to whatever my company-loyal, snake-in-the-grass superior may have said about me when he was contacted without my consent.
I am absolutely disgusted by this toxic behavior, and am DYING for this other company to get back to me, whether it be with an offer or NOT, because you can bet your fucking ass I’m cc’ing their HR department on my reply. I DID NOT consent to my current job being contacted for good reason, and they are FUCKING unprofessional and disrespectful to have done so without my consent, EVEN IF they thought it was innocuous.
Fuck this bullshit, fuck corporate America. I’m done with this good-ol-boy bullshit and my fucking blood is boiling that they were willing to risk ME losing MY JOB for a PROSPECTIVE opportunity.
Go fuck yourselves.