A recruiter verbally abused me. Is it safe for me to make a complaint?

A recruiter from a well-established recruitment agency told me not to discuss how much remuneration I was expecting, even if their client asked me during an upcoming interview. In my nervousness, I forgot his advice and answered the question when it was put to me by the recruiter’s client.

I knew the job market was dead at the time, so I quoted a range that was at the lower end to make myself more marketable. The next day the recruiter called me enraged and yelled at me for ignoring their advice and for making myself look so cheap which in turn made his agency look like a bunch of money grabbers. Is there an industry or regulatory body that I can report him to and if so, would I be blacklisted by his agency?

I can see how you would have felt nervous and become flustered during this interview and let the advice of the recruiter slip from your mind. The job market is extremely competitive, and because the interview was held during a period of the year when job opportunities are fewer, your trepidation would only have been greater.

Although I wouldn’t advise that jobseekers deflate their salary expectation as a way of making them a more compelling candidate, I understand why, in the heat of the moment, you employed this tactic.

At the same time, I can see how the recruiter might have been somewhat frustrated upon finding out what had happened. I can also imagine they themselves might have been pressured for any number of reasons and more on edge than usual. Neither of these things excuses their explosive phone call to you.

A central part of any recruiter’s job is to talk to people. They do it every day. You would think then that they, more than most, would have a strong understanding of the many variables and vagaries of human communication, especially when one party has much more power than the other.

Whatever option you take, I hope the episode hasn’t dented your confidence too much.

But, no – the words of this recruiter were not informed by years of experience dealing with people of different backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses, dispositions and ways of interacting. Instead, they were shaped by pure selfishness – “you didn’t do right by me!”

A good recruiter would have put their consternation aside and sought to understand why you seemingly ignored their advice. A good recruiter would also understand that pressure gets to all of us at some time. They would, if they listened, come to see that what you did was not willful defiance, but a small mistake made under challenging circumstances.

Yes, their reputation is important, but any vaguely reasonable client would understand that a stressed candidate making a minor slip is not a reflection of a recruiter’s opportunism.

Surely, a company’s reputation is influenced more by its representatives ranting and raving at individuals than it is by three seconds in an interview they weren’t even a part of.

You asked whether you might be blacklisted if you complain. I wonder whether it should be you doing the blacklisting. And I only say that partly jokingly.

I’m conscious of how idealistic it might sound to put a line through a large recruitment agency in a job market that seems to get more difficult by the week. But if it’s in any way practical, my advice would be to report this person under the assumption you’ll never use their services again.

Who should you file your complaint with? Well, that’s not entirely straightforward.

The Recruitment, Consulting & Staffing Association (RCSA) is the peak body for the recruitment industry in Australia and New Zealand. They have a code for professional conduct that binds all members, and a professional conduct grievance intervention guidelines process for complaints.

But “all members” is the key word here. If the company employing the person who screamed at you isn’t a member, the RCSA has no jurisdiction.

If you find that they’re not a member of the RCSA, another option is to contact the HR team of the recruitment agency itself. They, too, should have a code of conduct, and should be well aware of their obligations relating to maintaining an environment free from abuse and harassment.

It’s worth keeping in mind that if this person yelled at you, they may well have yelled at others, and if the HR team can see a pattern of behaviour, they may be more likely to act.