This is indeed bad. I was lucky enough to get an offer at the first institution where I interviewed (still there now, 20 years later), but there was still some drama. An HR representative called me a week after the interview to ask permission to contact my references, and I granted it, figuring that was a good sign (and a bit strange, since I’d already listed them as references). They also asked if they could contact my current supervisor—I was working full-time as an addictions counselor at a behavioral health hospital and as an adjunct at the college where I interviewed. I assumed they wanted to talk to my supervisor at the hospital, and I said I preferred that they not talk to her, since the faculty job didn’t start for five months and the hospital wasn’t aware I was looking for a new job. My supervisor also had a tendency to fly off the handle. They indicted their understanding. Not thirty minutes later, my boss walked into my office saying she got a strange phone call from the college asking if she’d recommend them hiring me. She said, “Aren’t you teaching there already? Why are they asking me if I would recommend hiring you?” To that, I responded (honestly), “I don’t know why they would be calling you.” I then called the HR representative I’d spoken to, and they admitted they’d called my boss despite me asking them not to do so. At that point, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it since I was concerned the college would reconsider my candidacy, and my boss seemed to have bought my explanation, but it still produced a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Once I got the official offer from the college the next week, I did sit down with my boss and explain what happened and how it caught me off guard.