Comment by Darryl Dioso on June 21, 2012 at 10:10am

Catbert strikes again.

Comment by Jim Murphy on June 21, 2012 at 10:45am

Pretty shocking story. What chance does a company have if it is sabotaged from the inside? Modern commerce is fast and competitive requiring employees to be switched on at all times. For what its worth Barbara, I think you handled this pretty well in the circumstances and I am sure ultimately the experience will make you an even better Recruiter. Liars never prosper and HRH will come unstuck pretty soon along with the VP whose misplaced loyalty appears to be concerned with covering her departments ass. At least you can headhunt some people from that company now!

Comment by Dyll Davies on June 21, 2012 at 11:07am

Barabra.  See my posts elswhere on similar subjects and you have my total sympathy.  It is why I try to weed these companies out before I even start working for them.  They just shorten your life - all that stress! - and waste your time.  There are plenty of tell-tale signs. My maxim has always been if I think they're jerks how can I honestly sell them and their company to my candidates?  Check out my latest blog below for some consoling (hopefully) similar stuff . . .

.http://www.recruitingblogs.com/profiles/blogs/recruiting-less-is-mo...

Comment by Theresa Hunter on June 21, 2012 at 11:21am

Wow and I think that I have a hard time with the recruiting coordinator in law firms.  Geez I have it a lot easier than I thought.  

Comment by Sandra McCartt on June 21, 2012 at 12:35pm

I knew it was over when you said VP of HR.  A classic case of Do you choose to believe your eyes or do you believe your baby?  Anytime the immediate supervisor is involved in a mess one of their direct reports has made they will take any out rather than let anything reflect on their ability to hire, train, mentor and know what is really going on.

It will take several candidates turning down or declining interviews then writing a note to someone outside of HR for this to ever change.  Or a repeat with another recruiter until a pattern is established that cannot be ignored.  Not likely to happen anytime soon.  Glad you are away from that wreck.

Comment by David Wells on June 21, 2012 at 12:36pm

 Please tell me you did not send that actual email?

 Having read your other posting I fully acknowledge that the HR contact was not behaving in a professional manner and was killing the process.  That being said the moment you agreed to conduct your search outside of your set parameters and agreed to their structure, i.e. no longer working with the line managers then you agreed to their process. 

 By agreeing to their process you gave the HR person the power to conduct the search as they saw fit and lost your capacity to act as an advisor. 

 I understand escalating the issue and reaching out to the CEO and VP of HR but calling the HR person a liar (which it sounds like they are) OVER EMAIL is a terrible idea.  First the VP probably hired her and of course has loyalty to their subordinate.  Second by putting it down on paper you are now the vendor that sent a screeching email to a VP of HR.  Third the HR person has the ear of the CEO and VP, thus that email will reflect poorly on YOU.  Not them.  I understand you probably never want to work with them again but as you well know VP's know other VP's and emails like this make for water cooler and networking talk.

 Unappealing as it may sound you need to call and apologize TODAY.

 In the end I agree the client sucks, their behavior is inexcusable and I am not defending it.  But your behavior is not professional either.  The next time you are upset at a client, take a breath and call a friend or post on this board.  But do not ever send emails like that.  You would be amazed at the long memory some clients and candidates have and how things like this always come back to bite you.

Comment by Dyll Davies on June 21, 2012 at 1:35pm

Agreed David - although my sympathies are with Barbara (got your name spelled correctly this time sorry) - probably not best practice to 'vent' in such a way - understandable though your frustration is.  But whatever you do don't call and apologise for Pete's sake!  David is 100% wrong here.  They won't think any the better of you and will just think you are an irrational idiot who flies off the handle and then wants to suck up and make it all better when they calm down.  The guys are jerks.  You reacted maybe not in the best way but heh forget it and move on and they will forget it too.  The bridge is not just burned it is a smouldering pile of ashes - by calling to apologise you just make yourself even more memorable for all the wrong reasons.  As Jim says above, see it as an opportunity to head-hunt some of their best people into other clients!

Comment by Barbara Goldman on June 21, 2012 at 1:40pm

She lied, and if the VP would just call the candidate,she would find out. She prefers to work with a liar. And, yes, I sent the e-mail. And, I'm not sorry I did. I'm not sorry for any of this. She wasted 10K of her employers money with this exercise. Most people would at least be retrained. Also, I have e-mail evidence of her lies, I just didn't get into it. She lied about the salary range (in e-mail to the candidate). She lied about giving the candidate an offer on Monday. (The candidate, who has impeccable references waited all day on Monday, he was expecting an offer, she never called him). And, what is really disturbing is that she blamed us. WE gave the wrong salary range, WE lost the deal, No way, SHE did. And, when we signed the contract, we were assured that we could talk to the hiring authority, every time we did, she called to chastise us. I'll outlast both of them. I need accounts like this like I need a hole in my wallet. She wasted not just my time, but everyone's time. BTW, the words in italics were part of the letter. The rest wasn't. Do YOU think that this candidate should have been treated like this?

Comment by David Wells on June 21, 2012 at 1:47pm

I fully acknowledged that the client was wrong and even said it sounds like she lied and based on your statements I am sure she did.  And of course I do not think the candidate should be treated this way. 

In the end you CHOSE to continue doing business with her and you sent an email that can be damaging to you and your firm.  After I thought about and read Dyll's response (good response by the way) I realized he was right and unless you had an already established long and personal relationship with the VP HR or CEO I would not call to apologize.  Just walk away.

What does sending the email accomplish?  What was your goal?  You did not provide any evidence that the HR person lied?  All you did was send in an email that can poison future relationships with other clients.  Does that serve you long term?

Comment by Dyll Davies on June 21, 2012 at 2:37pm

@David.  Of course you are right but I sense Barbara's burning sense of injustice too!  Unfortunately the world is full of such people, Barbara, (as I am sure you know only too well) and we can do our best as recruiters to educate them but hell we ain't gonna succeed even half the time in which case, just sometimes, it's good to let that sense of burning injustice out!  Yeah the bridge to that client will catch fire in the scorching heat (do you think I am pushing this fire metaphor thing too far now?) but to hell with that.  Get it off your chest girl and go work with clients who value what you do!

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