I recently attended a job interview for a job I hadn’t applied for.

It happened because I applied for one job at a compnay and was called to a first interview. I was then called back for a second interview that was slightly strange. The questions asked were totally different from those at the first, to the point that I wondered if they’d called me in by mistake.

It later turned out not to be a mistake, but that they wanted to offer me a different job to the one I’d initially applied for. But I wasn’t interested in the second job as it involved completely different skills to the ones I am trained in. If they’d told me before the second interview I would have said this and not wasted my time and theirs going for an interview for a job I didn’t want. I had to take time off my current job, organise short notice cover and spend money getting to the interview.

My question is whether it’s considered good practice to do this. I know it’s an employer’s market at the moment but they wasted their own time as well as mine. If it’s common practice I want to be wary of it (and confirm in advance what jobs any other interviews I get are for) and not waste any more days off.

Any comments appreciated.