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!

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The responses were flooded with readers bashing the recruiter and sharing their own horror stories from dealing with headhunters

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