Revenge is sweet

Text of an email I sent to a recruitment company today;

Just a heads up to let you know that we won't be considering using your company and perhaps provide a warning/lesson to your recruiters.

 

I first interviewed with [recruitment firm] approximately 10 years ago.  During the interview I was asked a number of inappropriate questions about my marital status and my children.  In the following 18 months I noticed a number of suitable positions advertised by your firm, but was never contacted.

 

A few years later during another interview your consultant commented negatively on my choice of clothing and again, my application went no further than the consultants office.  This was despite having a set of skills in demand and being given employer interviews with every other recruitment company I contacted and two job offers within a week of my contact with your firm.

 

My impression of your firm is that you suffer from entrenched sexism and it is not appropriate for me to promote those attitudes.

 

Please remind your consultants that the graduate they are interviewing today, may well be in a position to give them work in 10-15 years time.

MrsBrown
HR manager

Edit:
Just arrived:
 

I am sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience with [recruiting company]. Whilst I cannot comment on things that occurred before I joined the company I can assure you that as a recruiter I treat all candidates on their merits.

As much as I would like the opportunity to change your mind it appears that past sins have left such a bad impression on you that  I will respect your decision and will update our records accordingly.

Kind Regards,
Recruiting flunky 

more on revenge

response this afternoon:

Dear mrsbrown,

Recruiting flunky passed your email on to me. I am not writing to you with the hope of obtaining work with your company, but wish to address your experience as a candidate. 

I have been the managing director of [recruitment agency] for around 3 years and I can assure you that all recruitment staff have been trained in Victoria’s Equal Opportunity laws and guidelines for best practice. We use used a booklet called “A Fair Go For All Job Seekers” which is published by The Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria to train our staff in best practice guidelines for the recruitment industry.  All of our existing staff have been trained and the same training is included in our formal induction program for new employees.

I have spoken this afternoon with both of the people you may have been interviewed by in the past. Unfortunately, neither person could recall the interview. I have reminded them that it is unlawful to assess candidates based on attributes such as sex, marital status, status as a carer, etc. They have both assured me that they are aware of the laws and that their recruitment practices comply with them. 

Mrsbrown, I am sorry that your experience left you with a very poor impression of [recruitment company]. It is very hard to change that impression but I can assure you that I stress to our consulting staff that I want our candidates treated with a high level of respect and that we should be treating them in the same way we would like to be treated. I am confident that to a very large degree we are meeting my expectations in this regard.   

If we can be of assistance to you as a candidate in the future, please feel free to get in touch with me as a first point of contact.

Sincerely           

 Managing Director