Recruiter Horror Stories

Was it for an acquisitions role?

This is a beyond massive overstep and maybe illegal? 90% or junior candidates are constantly out in the market for opportunities or just to see what is out there / compare their current role. That’s a crazy story imo. That recruiter should be fired and am glad that kid had you on the other side of the recruiters phone and not some tweaked senior guy. Being jobless rn is brutal… absurd

If you have a good relationship with the analyst you should let him / her know to not speak with this recruiter. That’s real ballsy of this recruiter and really messed up. I would actually go so far as if you have a relationship with the firm elsewhere, let them know what this guy did. The whole mantra of recruiting is confidentiality. In some instances; what this recruiter did would get someone fired. 

You should blast this recruiters name and firm out into the world, that's incredibly unprofessional.

You need to drop the company name at least. That is insane behavior. 

Name and shame!

That recruiter is an A Hole

If you wanted engagement, will be difficult to get starting off THIS hot with that story - I have a few recruiters that were unprofessional, but now I don't even want to share because this one is so, so much worse lol

Not as bad as the post, but I had an interview process when I was an associate that I was progressing through. It was a small shop and was the third round. I was led to believe that this would be a less junior role, discussing senior associate and VP positions to see where I would fit. I had gone through three rounds, and I just completed the in-person case study and presentation to the investment team in the office. I hopped in a cab and was on my way home when the recruiter called me and said, "They really enjoyed meeting me and want me to speak with you about finalized comp expectations and title".  

During that meeting, they walked me through what I would be doing, and it was very similar to my current gig, and seemed a bit junior in terms of roles and responsibilities. During that meeting, they also informed me that there were no analysts and that the most junior people at the firm were associates. I explained this to the recruiter and mentioned that I do not think this is the right opportunity for me. I had and still have a good relationship with this recruiter. A direct quote was  "culturally you're going to fit in perfectly here, please just think about it". I did, and the following day I had the same conversation with her. She pressured me to speak with her boss, and I agreed to do so. I walked that woman through all of my concerns about how I was initially told this was an SA/VP role, and theyre telling me I'd be an associate, which is not something I was looking to take on at the time. She explained to me that associates do not do the junior work here. I asked who does if they do not have analysts? She snapped and said that I would be a horrible cultural fit, and she had wasted the firm's time presenting me; the feedback wasn't great. I mentioned that it was contrary to what I was told just 24 hours ago, and she kept saying I wasn't a good fit, eventually leading us to hang up the phone. What's frustrating is that one year later, that firm had analysts.

That is wildly unethical, name and shame

When I was just starting out, a recruiter from a F500 recruiting company advised me to change my first name on my resume. She said the unusual pronunciation could reduce my chances of getting a call and that I’d probably struggle to land a front office role as a result. 

Just name the company so others will know. I wonder how often this occurs.

Please tell me who the firm is so I can make sure to never use them for a placement.

Mine wasn’t quite as bad as the one above, but I had a recruiter reach out claiming they had some roles coming up on the real estate investment side. I took the call in good faith, shared my general compensation expectations and background. After collecting a good amount of information from me, he tried to wrap up the call quickly. I stopped him just before he ended and asked what roles were actually coming up and which firms they had worked with in the past. Unsurprisingly, he admitted there were no real opportunities and could barely name a single firm they had worked with. I assume the whole point was just to gather comp data. For anyone earlier in their career —like myself, around two years in — just be cautious and don’t waste too much time with recruiters. Many are just casting a wide net, gathering as much info as possible, and flooding their clients with resumes to secure a fee.