Totally mortified... come share my righteous indignation!

[wickerwoman]

So a little backstory:

I've been applying for jobs for about ten months now. I got a job offer last month so I gave notice at my current job. I really like my current job and felt bad about leaving so I told them the job was arranged through a friend (whereas the truth is I was pretty burned out, ready for a change and had been applying to a lot of other places for a while... not super nice, I know, but I don't think it's totally outside the social contract either). They asked me what they could do to keep me and I said nothing, I just wanted to move to this other city, which is true.

Then two weeks ago, the job offer fell through. But I didn't tell anyone at my current job because I didn't want to go through more conversations about why I'm really leaving and am I sure I wouldn't rather just stay, blah, blah, blah. I'm planning to move to the other city anyway and find a job when I get there and I don't want to drag out the goodbyes with my current job. But I did start applying to some other companies to line up interviews for when I move there. I've had some nibbles but everyone has been like "call us when you get to the new city and we'll set up an interview."

Today:

I come back from lunch. I share an office with my boss and we have the same phone extension and he mimes that the call is for me. I answer and someone says: "Hi this is so-and-so from such-and-such (some initials which I didn't really recognize since I've applied to at least 400 places in the past 10 months). Is this bezdomny?" I said yes. Then he asked if I was the head of marketing. I'm not and didn't claim I was on my application but I do some vaguely marketing related sounding stuff and put it on my resume. So I'm 99% sure he was trying to interview me over the phone. I *never* get calls at work which is why the phone is on my boss's desk and I have to lean over him while he's sitting in his chair to talk.

So my brain is imploding and I totally choked and mumbled something about it being the wrong number and hung up. That's the mortification part. Oh... and he called back and I panicked and told my boss to tell him it was a wrong number. Which made me look totally insane because the guy who was calling knew the company name and also my name (although not my job title).

But here's the righteous indignation part... who the f*ck calls someone at work in the middle of the day for a job interview without giving them the basic courtesy of an e-mail to set up a convenient time and place (here's a hint... NOT WORK!... especially when my boss is literally sitting under me as I reach over for the phone receiver.) And who doesn't take a hint when they're told it's a wrong number and calls back and argues about it?

OK, I could have come up with something more smooth about calling back later (even though that would be massively suspicious since my boss knows I'm not that busy these days). But it totally, totally put me on the spot. If I hadn't already given notice I could have lost my job thanks to this joker. Instead, I just look totally schizo and will probably have to explain why I'm still applying for jobs when everyone at work thinks I have a standing offer.

Am I way off base here or is it totally, totally unacceptable to look up someone's work number and call them for an unscheduled phone interview at their office?

[Ptah]

1. How did he get your work number?

:shrug:

[zanne]

2. Maybe it was from a "startup" company...

That knows nothing about communication or business relationships. Like a guy working out of his basement, for example. In any case, if they called you at work, they don't have the business savvy to survive anyway.

[DS1]

3. I think you are overreacting

I wouldn't mind my bosses hearing that other people are interested, and could easily reschedule during that phone call if I did. I wouldn't go through with the full interview right there, tho.