The Apple Cart is Upset.
This happened sometime in early 2003, about a year and a half after I'd left a position with VeryLargeCo. I had left not really by choice, but because they were outsourcing the entire division I was in. While I could have stayed on with NewCo, they closed the entire facility less than a year later. The position I was working at the time of this story was starting to show the signs of being a Bad Place To Be.
Silicon Consulting cold-called me about a position, I assume they pulled my resume from the only real job board at the time, the one that used to have the big purple thing as their mascot. SC told me they had a small company that was looking for a techncian, the company was offering $X to start, and they thought I was a good fit. I listened to their speech and, while it sounded interesting, it just wasn't enough more to pick up and move. We left off with a friendly "if you find something closer to home, let me know."
About two hours later, SC called back and told me that they had spoken with the company, they had discussed my resume, and that the company would offer $X+$2K if they extended an offer. At the time, it didn't occur to me that I hadn't told them to continue talking to the company. It did to me much later, but at the time I simply told them that the amount pushed me over the hump for what would be needed for me to move. Looking back, both of those were red flags, but I didn't see them at the time.
I had already searched for the company using the limited information they gave me, as it was a very specialized place it was easy to find - they're pretty much the only one that does what they do, in the way they do it. It looked interesting enough so...
I knew what I was looking at (still didn't see those red flags, that didn't come until much later) so I went ahead and did the phone interview. It was indeed a small company, started by a group of people who had left a now-defunct LargeCo, and were looking to bring their first outside hire onboard. They developed the technology they used, and it was all homegrown and 100% thiers. Pretty cool stuff. This went well, and one crisp late spring morning I drove down to meet them face-to-face.
The company was indeed small, and they had one of a few buildings in a very rural industrial park. The building was fairly new, they were a little over 10 years old at this point and had recently built their own place. The interview was technical people discussing technical things, except when it came to discussing my resume. They had an extremely edited version of it. I don't remember exactly what all had been changed, but it was quite a bit different. The one thing I do remember specifically was salary amounts. At the time, it was acceptable to put those on a resume, so I did - and when they asked about my current salaries, I gave them a real copy of my resume. The look I received when presenting that was one of confusion as they compared the two. I'm not sure if it was because they thought they were overpaying, or were just concerned that the copy they had was different. (I realize now that a recruiter is probably going to remove certain information, but this was not communicated to me at the time. If it had been, then I would have proceeded differently.) This look of confusion was another red flag, and this one I noticed. Not a big one, but a "Hmmm, wonder why" type flag.
Regardless, this went well and we ended the interview on a good note.
A few days later, I recieved a call from the recruiter. I don't remember how we got on this track, but they said the company was probably going to make an offer. I said that I'd like to spend a day with them, at my expense, to see if this is a good fit. The company was amicable to this, and I arrived for my workday the next week and spent the entire day, 8-5, working with them. I was able to build a small circuit for a device that they were getting ready to ship, worked with the finishing of devices, and was able to see some specialized projects they were working on. I was treated to a nice lunch, the interviewer showed me some of the local places if I were to move there, and other facts about the area.
We discussed the business end of the job a little more. The owner told me about the way their benefits structure worked, said that there would be some relocation help, and other items of interest. The insurance the company offered wasn't the best, it was a percentage of premium paid - something like 50% at the time. It wasn't terrible then, but now it would probably be unworkable. I wasn't terribly thrilled with that, but the decent bump in pay would cover it. We didn't discuss the pay, but I already had a number in my head, that of the X+2K I discussed with the recruiter. At the end of the day, I travelled home, noting what it was going to take to take the job. Moving was going to be necessary, there was no way a ~90 minute commute would work.
A few days go by, and I get a call from the recruiter The company would like to offer me the job. Great, what's the offer? Well, I have to come in to their office. Um, just tell me what it is. No, you have to come in to the office. We'll be here later so come in and we'll dicuss. Well, this was strange to me, as they were being kind of cagey about telling me this. I went and discussed it with a close coworker that used to be a regional manager for the telephone place up North. He listened and said "They're going to lowball you and the offer isn't what they told you at the start."
He hit it right on the head. I go to the recruiter's office, which fortunately, is easy enough to get to as it's in a business park just down the road from my home. They present the offer to me, and it's $X-$1k. Less than the offer I turned down originally. I was kind of pissed, and I told them this. Where did the other offer go? They just kind of danced around it and told me this was a good deal, the real deal. I should take it. I said no, I'm not, because it's less than what we talked about and agreed to, and with the added costs of benefits from the company it was approaching the not useful mark. They kind of got upset, they made all kind of promises. We'll help you sell your house here. This is a good deal...no. I didn't sign anything and told them I'll think about it but I'm probably not going to take it. They were pretty unhappy by this point. I'm thinking if you lied to me about the initial offer, then what kind of "help" would you give me?
Next day, I called the company. I spoke with the owner. I asked what happened. He was somewhat surprised that I had been made an offer up front. He explained that, as I would have been their first outside hire, he didn't have a good idea of a rate - he simply gave the recruiter "Well, probably between This and That," "That" being the $X+2k I was offered. He told me that he had actually been called by this recruiter because they were looking for a salesperson - since he was primary sales, he got called. Wasn't interested, of course, but he opened a business deal with them to find a tech. He was really apologetic about the whole thing, and understood. We said our goodbyes and that was that.
No, it wasn't.
The recruiter called me later that day and they were hopping mad. They were madder than a swarm of bees in honey stealing contest. I got an earful. I shouldn't contact the client. The client was mad. I'd upset the apple cart. The client was never going to work with me again. The client had withdrawn the job offer. Probably 10 minutes of them telling me how badly I'd messed up. I just listened and went uh huh. When they were done, I reiterated that the pay wasn't what I had based my original decision on, and I'm sorry that they had withdrawn the offer but I understand, and that I was no longer interested. This made them even more mad and I basically shooed them off the phone and hung up. Half-hour later, they're calling me back. The client has reconsidered and is extending a very generous offer to you. You should take this job, it's a good thing, etc. No, my decision stands, thank you for your time. They started in with the "good thing, real deal" and I simply said goodbye and hung up.
I spoke with the company again not that long after, I don't really remember why - I think it was just a call to make sure they were knowledgeable of my side of the story. We discussed things and I found out they were not impressed with recruiter's performance. I told them what had occurred after the initial offer, they had never received any call (surprise,) and went so far as to calling the recruiter "used car salesmen." Recruiter emailed me a few times, I just replied with the "This is why" from my initial rejection. Never was able to get them to admit anything except "maybe they overstepped their bounds a little." There were a number of exchanges with the recruiter during the next month, mostly one-sided (from them) and I finally just stopped talking to them.
The company extended the offer later directly, but I didn't feel good about taking it. I know there wasn't any strings attached, but...I don't know. Maybe I was worried the recruiter would try and stick their nose in. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the job, I'd probably still be there today.
Recruiter continued to call me over the next few years, trying to pull information out of me. I usually just ignored them, but the last time I took a call they tried to get information about what CAD systems the company I was with at the time used. I didn't know, the mechanical department wasn't my thing, and I said so. Recruiter went so far as to say "Well, companies like your usually use some-cad, so that's probably what you're using. I'm pretty sure it is." I'd never heard of some-cad, but the tone told me the guy thought I was lying to him. Soon after that, I changed jobs and phone numbers. The last contact I had with them was a cold message on a job site where they wanted some technical discipline, and it was sent with "Here's a job, how about it?" attitude. Ignored and deleted.
This was all on the recruiter - if they had been up front with me about what the pay rates actually were, I would have never even bothered interviewing.
I had posted my experience on an open comment site a few years after this all happened. It garnered a few comments, one from someone claiming to be a former employee of recruiter who spoke poorly about the business and it's owner, and someone claiming to be the owner of the recuiter business itself. The "owner" indicated that everything posted by the former employee was "irresponsible, unfounded, and weak-minded." They claimed they had extended a private invitations to discuss the allegations made by me, but I never received any such invitation. I will say that the database on the comment site got corrupted, so it's very possible there may have been something on it - but there wasn't any way to send "private" messages there.
As I look back on this experience with the eyes of someone much older, I think I know what happened. Silicon Consulting (which is not the real name of course) had probably told the employer that I accepted the position and they were collecting the paperwork - before they had even spoken with me. Otherwise, I can't see them being so unhappy with my refusal, especially considering the offer changed at the last minute. But, I also have to look at that with older eyes - I've run across a number of recruiters that changed the deal as it was being made, then became upset that I backed out. Is this just a thing with this kind of business? I really don't understand the deal with lying and being shady with this kind of thing. If this recruiter had been upfront with me, this would have never happened. I guess I was the first fish they hooked, and they were going to fight to get me in the boat. That's what really angered me about the whole thing. They stretched the truth to the breaking point then pointed at me with anger when I dared question it.
In regards to being the first fish they'd hooked - I think I was, quite literally. The Internet Archive doesn't have a webpage for them before 2003, and the primary person had left a local franchised recruiter within the last year. It sounds like this was thier first opportunity to get someone. The company they came from explains a lot as well, this place like to play games with you during the recruiter process.
I don't think this recruiter is still in business. The website still resolves, but it's just a hosted "Coming Soon" page. The owner of the company did some other jobseeker-related ventures in public media, but those seem to have concluded as well. The last address of the business isn't occupied, and there are just fragments on LinkedIn. I have to assume that the company and it's founders have exited the recruiting business for whatever reason, or perhaps they just moved on without updating profiles. There has been some activity on their website lately, and there are job listings posted on their LinkedIn page, so who knows...
The client, however, is doing quite well and has hired a number of people over the years. Their LinkedIn profile suggests they are entering their second generation of business. I look at my experience with them quite fondly, and wish them the best.
And Phillip, I'm really sorry. I should have taken that when it was offered, but - hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it? Perhaps I'd still be there now, but in any case I think it would have benefitted me far more than some of the other things I've done since then.