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I am applying for jobs. After some rounds of interviewing and problem solving, The company wanted to setup another round of interview. They called me without even setting up an appointment for the call. Moreover, they called a bit early in the morning, at a time when people are usually getting ready to go to work. They apologized for the timing though.

However, is it acceptable to setup calls without even e-mailing someone to ask about their availability ? As an aside, I am not particularly offended by this, but I wonder if this is a serious red flag about the company.

EDIT-The company called to get some information which in most people's estimates would take about 5 minutes or so.

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    Were they trying to do a full interview, or just a short call for some information?
    – Erik
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 17:09
  • @Erik - again, good question. Edited the question. It was a short call.
    – Erran Morad
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 17:12
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    If you can't take a phone call at some moment, don't take it.
    – RemcoGerlich
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 17:29
  • How should they have set up this appointment to call you? By phone?
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 18:14
  • @DJClayworth - By email if possible. What is your point ?
    – Erran Morad
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 18:19

2 Answers 2

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It's not strange for people to call you if they need some information from you. That's pretty much what phones are for, especially if you need the information quickly.

Setting up an appointment is something you do if you're going to need to take up a chunk of someone's time or need them to be prepared for the call, but if you just need some quick information from someone, you just ask.

If anything, consider it a good thing. They seem to care enough to call directly, instead of doing it the slow way through email. That's the kind of thing people do if they don't want to wait too long with getting something fixed.

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It's no red flag at all. It's just a matter of personal preference. In this day and age, you're always free to ignore the call and send it to voicemail and everyone knows this. You can see who's calling (kind of) and then decide.

It's really not a big deal. I get unsolicited calls from recruiters all the time and if I don't know the number, they all go to voice mail. My voice mail translates to text and I read it at my convenience. It's all good.

OP edited to add that it is a 5 minute info request. My answer remains the same. You still don't have to answer it and they won't be put out if you don't, since they didn't schedule it. They're probably just taking a chance that you might actually have time. It's still all good.

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    This is a good answer, except that if you do ignore calls, you run the chance that they will move on and not contact you again. It's something to keep in mind.
    – thursdaysgeek
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 17:41
  • Except that "ignore" is intended as a relative term. In my experience, almost everyone understands returning a call in the same day, especially an solicited one. Even the next day is usually fine. There's rarely anything so urgent that it can't wait a few hours. Like my wife tells our children, "If you have to have an answer right now, the answer is no. Otherwise you can wait until I can make a decision."
    – Chris E
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 17:44
  • Oh, I agree. You're being professional and returning calls in a timely manner. I was just pointing out, that for some jobs and some hiring managers, they have a list of people to call, and if someone doesn't answer, they move on and never come back. Even if you call back in a timely manner, they may have lost interest. That is probably more of a concern for less professional jobs, so not something you would probably ever encounter.
    – thursdaysgeek
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 17:51

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