Company Tries To Recruit A Specialist Who’s Already Working But Won’t Match Her Salary Expectations, Sends Her A Nasty Follow-Up Email
Hi there! I wanted to reach out about a job opportunity in your field that you would be perfect for. We already have you in mind for the position. All you need to do is be willing to take a 30% pay cut, lose all of your benefits and be in the same position in your career that you were in 5 years ago. Sound good? Please, be in touch!
Many of us are familiar with obnoxious recruiters sliding into our DMs via LinkedIn or Indeed, but they’re not always sending tone-deaf messages like my above example. Sometimes, they know how to conceal their craziness until they’ve gotten past the initial point of contact; then they have a grand reveal of their true colors. Yesterday, Reddit user Main-Yogurtcloset-82 shared a story on the Antiwork subreddit of how she was contacted by a recruiter recently who became furious after hearing her current salary and expectations. Below, you can read the story, as well as some of the responses it’s received, and see just how bold some of these online recruiters have become. Then if you’re looking for another article featuring recruiting horror stories, check out this Bored Panda piece next.
Yesterday, one worker told the Antiwork subreddit how a recruiter reached out to her about a potential position in her field
Image credits: charlesdeluvio (not the actual photo)
Image credits: cottonbro (not the actual photo)
Because she wasn’t actively searching for a job, Main-Yogurtcloset-82 was honest with the recruiter about what exactly a position would need to offer for her to consider applying
After hearing her expectations, the recruiter responded with an unexpectedly hostile email
In theory, recruiters would be a great thing. They can expedite your job search by bringing you positions they’ve already hand-picked. Sounds way more appealing than spending hours scrolling through LinkedIn, right? But the problem lots of people have with recruiters is that they’re usually only looking out for themselves. Often, they work for third party firms and receive commission from businesses for every decent candidate they find. But they likely don’t care whether or not you perfectly fit the position; they’re just trying to fill a slot and get paid.
Recruiters are also notorious for withholding the fact that they can give larger salaries or better benefits from candidates. According to Omer Molad, CEO and founder of the recruiting company Vervoe, recruiters are usually given a salary range that’s been allotted for each role. “Their initial salary offer is very rarely at the top of their salary band, so base pay — as well as benefits like vacation days, work hours, etc. — can usually be negotiated,” Molad told Glassdoor. Another reason recruiters can’t always be trusted is because sometimes positions are all but promised to an in-house employee, but others are brought in to interview as a formality. These “phantom job postings” are annoying, but unfortunately, they’re legal. Molad says that recruiters won’t tell you, “It was a beauty parade to show management we ran a process, but it was a sham and you were never really considered.” But sometimes, that’s exactly the situation.
In the case of the recruiter who reached out to Main-Yogurtcloset-82, she was probably desperate to fill a role and unleashed her anger about something else (Perhaps how low her personal salary is?) in that email. But that certainly would not make anyone else want to work with her. Recruiting is not inherently bad, but when recruiters treat candidates like cattle, it’s hard to trust them. Keep reading to hear what other users on Reddit thought about this situation, then let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Have you ever dealt with an aggressive recruiter like this? We’d love to hear your recruiting horror stories below as well!
The responses were flooded with readers bashing the recruiter and sharing their own horror stories from dealing with headhunters
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My husband is in a union for sheet metal. I have a degree and have worked my way up with the same company for 8 years now. He has been in the union for 3-4 years and makes double my income and has all the benefits listed in this post (insurance, 401k, etc) I wish I could be in a union.
Looks like the OP is full of S#!@. If you read the comments, one response calls them out for basically posting comments about every month with totally different work scenarios. Probably just looking for attention on Reddit.
These headhunters or recruiters are just out to keep their jobs. This one is trying to convince someone to lessen their standards just so they can get a bonus or kiss up points.
Had one do that to me too. Glad I didn't take the job.
Load More Replies... Here's one this crowd might like... About 15 years ago, the Company I was working at was looking to hire a Millwright. To set the scene, the mandated Minimum Wage, as per the Provincial government, was about $8 an hour. They wanted a fully licensed Millwright with several years experience for $17 an hour. The kicker is, at the time, the Millwright's Union, was requiring $17 per for an APPRENTICE! What the company wanted would have cost them a minimum of $35 per! -- No one in the HR/Payroll department knew what they should be offering, because they had never looked into having one before! lol
"Things that never happened." If you wanted it to sound plausible, why type in a paraphrased, incorrectly spelled email from an alleged business professional? 🤣
Weirdly, I had the opposite thing happen to me. I was approached by a recruiter, and asked if I was interested. I put my current income forward for the position, and they upped it by 30% and submitted that to the company they were hiring for. 3 months later, I've only got 7 working days left before I start my new job that is 100% remote, 30% more income and permanent.
Wow. It's been 21 months since I wrote this, and I'm still here. Best gamble I ever made.
Load More Replies... My own SIL tried to get me to work as a manager for a pizza chain in Indiana. It was several hours from my family, in a town where I knew *no one*. The position had c**p wages, no retirement, and mediocre medical coverage. While I was looking over the company materials (I decided not to work for them after reading how terrible the position was) she apparently told her bosses that I was agreeable to their offer and was mad as hell when I told her no. "But it's such great experience!" WTF?? I already had year's of experience in restaurant management; what made her greedy a*s think I would sign up for an entry level job? She kept pushing and I finally told her to get bent. If a 'recruiter' will do that to family, watch out if you've no ties at all!
The more money YOU make, the more money the recruiter makes from their commission. It's an instant red flag if the recruiter isn't grilling you to find your extra skills, talents, and experiences to enhance your market value. A recruiter is supposed to be YOUR partner, working to get the most $$$ out of the employer. If you sense the recruiter has a long-standing business relationship with the employer and is only interested in putting warm bodies into empty cubicles at the lowest possible cost, find another recruiter.
Last recruiter I talked to lied about job description and salary then got upset I turned the job down after the interview
It's typical for full hire jobs to pay less than gig work, and because they offer more stability and security, people accept that trade off. It's also because the full hire jobs offer benefits to make up the difference, whereas gig work usually does not. The poster is in a very unusual position for having things like insurance, 401k, and a pension while doing gig work. That's practically unheard of.
You can usually expect to make a good deal less when going from an independent contractor to a corporate job--but the difference is made up with the benefits. It's extremely unusual for a gig worker to have any of the benefits the OP mentions (retirement, insurance, etc.)
To, two, too; they're, their, there; to thine own self be true. And for God's sake learn how to spell what you mean when impersonating a professional word spinner. Or at least hire a proper proofing professional!
I have worked in unionized & non unionized jobs. I personally like unions when the right people are being supported. The downside to unions is it can cause the laziest folks to remain in their roles for too long and be compensated equally to those that buss their buns at work. Making that type of salary, insurance benefits and retirement plan is a very fortunate plus that many employers do not want to offer if you don’t come armed with information to negotiate or truly don’t have it in the budget because they don’t want to reallocate funds to become more competitive to attract and keep quality talent
Had someone cold call me recruiting for a position I know a lot about. I'm not looking, and said so, no problem. It is a very specialized role, and they asked me, almost begging, if I could tell them what they're looking for because they were having no luck. I told them the truth, the job they described was three separate people in senior system admin roles. Good luck!
I am a corporate recruiter. I love how many people think recruiters have all this “power”. We don’t determine the salaries. We know the market. Believe it or not…we are the middle man in most cases. Some companies or managers are cheap. I ask for salary that candidates are looking for as far as “ballpark”. The reason I ask is not to waste the candidate’s time if we can’t compete for them. Wastes my time and the companies time as well if I send a manager a candidate way out of our salary range.
There is no union for gig workers. This is a total made up story "ya'll". Then when asked about it she still gave no name of the supposed Union and who covers her health insurance payments. La la land story right next to Santa Claus.
My husband is in a union for sheet metal. I have a degree and have worked my way up with the same company for 8 years now. He has been in the union for 3-4 years and makes double my income and has all the benefits listed in this post (insurance, 401k, etc) I wish I could be in a union.
Looks like the OP is full of S#!@. If you read the comments, one response calls them out for basically posting comments about every month with totally different work scenarios. Probably just looking for attention on Reddit.
These headhunters or recruiters are just out to keep their jobs. This one is trying to convince someone to lessen their standards just so they can get a bonus or kiss up points.
Had one do that to me too. Glad I didn't take the job.
Load More Replies... Here's one this crowd might like... About 15 years ago, the Company I was working at was looking to hire a Millwright. To set the scene, the mandated Minimum Wage, as per the Provincial government, was about $8 an hour. They wanted a fully licensed Millwright with several years experience for $17 an hour. The kicker is, at the time, the Millwright's Union, was requiring $17 per for an APPRENTICE! What the company wanted would have cost them a minimum of $35 per! -- No one in the HR/Payroll department knew what they should be offering, because they had never looked into having one before! lol
"Things that never happened." If you wanted it to sound plausible, why type in a paraphrased, incorrectly spelled email from an alleged business professional? 🤣
Weirdly, I had the opposite thing happen to me. I was approached by a recruiter, and asked if I was interested. I put my current income forward for the position, and they upped it by 30% and submitted that to the company they were hiring for. 3 months later, I've only got 7 working days left before I start my new job that is 100% remote, 30% more income and permanent.
Wow. It's been 21 months since I wrote this, and I'm still here. Best gamble I ever made.
Load More Replies... My own SIL tried to get me to work as a manager for a pizza chain in Indiana. It was several hours from my family, in a town where I knew *no one*. The position had c**p wages, no retirement, and mediocre medical coverage. While I was looking over the company materials (I decided not to work for them after reading how terrible the position was) she apparently told her bosses that I was agreeable to their offer and was mad as hell when I told her no. "But it's such great experience!" WTF?? I already had year's of experience in restaurant management; what made her greedy a*s think I would sign up for an entry level job? She kept pushing and I finally told her to get bent. If a 'recruiter' will do that to family, watch out if you've no ties at all!
The more money YOU make, the more money the recruiter makes from their commission. It's an instant red flag if the recruiter isn't grilling you to find your extra skills, talents, and experiences to enhance your market value. A recruiter is supposed to be YOUR partner, working to get the most $$$ out of the employer. If you sense the recruiter has a long-standing business relationship with the employer and is only interested in putting warm bodies into empty cubicles at the lowest possible cost, find another recruiter.
Last recruiter I talked to lied about job description and salary then got upset I turned the job down after the interview
It's typical for full hire jobs to pay less than gig work, and because they offer more stability and security, people accept that trade off. It's also because the full hire jobs offer benefits to make up the difference, whereas gig work usually does not. The poster is in a very unusual position for having things like insurance, 401k, and a pension while doing gig work. That's practically unheard of.
You can usually expect to make a good deal less when going from an independent contractor to a corporate job--but the difference is made up with the benefits. It's extremely unusual for a gig worker to have any of the benefits the OP mentions (retirement, insurance, etc.)
To, two, too; they're, their, there; to thine own self be true. And for God's sake learn how to spell what you mean when impersonating a professional word spinner. Or at least hire a proper proofing professional!
I have worked in unionized & non unionized jobs. I personally like unions when the right people are being supported. The downside to unions is it can cause the laziest folks to remain in their roles for too long and be compensated equally to those that buss their buns at work. Making that type of salary, insurance benefits and retirement plan is a very fortunate plus that many employers do not want to offer if you don’t come armed with information to negotiate or truly don’t have it in the budget because they don’t want to reallocate funds to become more competitive to attract and keep quality talent
Had someone cold call me recruiting for a position I know a lot about. I'm not looking, and said so, no problem. It is a very specialized role, and they asked me, almost begging, if I could tell them what they're looking for because they were having no luck. I told them the truth, the job they described was three separate people in senior system admin roles. Good luck!
I am a corporate recruiter. I love how many people think recruiters have all this “power”. We don’t determine the salaries. We know the market. Believe it or not…we are the middle man in most cases. Some companies or managers are cheap. I ask for salary that candidates are looking for as far as “ballpark”. The reason I ask is not to waste the candidate’s time if we can’t compete for them. Wastes my time and the companies time as well if I send a manager a candidate way out of our salary range.
There is no union for gig workers. This is a total made up story "ya'll". Then when asked about it she still gave no name of the supposed Union and who covers her health insurance payments. La la land story right next to Santa Claus.
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