Comment by gpjt | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gpjt | Hacker News Reader

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Great to hear from a recruiter who's trying to do something good in a very broken industry. On the subject of horror stories...

One guy called me a while back (in my role as an employer) who, when I politely said that we weren't interested because we always recruit directly, told me that he had been responsible for someone leaving our company a few months ago and he would now actively try to "poach" more people away until we agreed to use him.

Needless to say, we won't be doing any business with him or his company even if we decide to use agencies in the future. If it weren't for UK libel laws I'd mention his name as a warning to others.

Is it illegal to mention his name because you can't prove what he said?

A lot of Britain's laws seem awfully strict to me, but I'm fully aware that that's a result of cultural conditioning by living in the United States for 17 years. (I wonder what most UK citizens think of America's laws regarding speech, libel and slander.)

Our libel laws are currently being rewritten, basically, due to huge demand for change. Yes, as they stand they are a bit unreasonable, you have to be able to prove you're correct rather than the other person prove that you're incorrect, which makes it dangerous to call out people like chiropractors.

Exactly -- if you publish something (which includes posting on the net) then you have to be able to prove it's true. I think the US does this stuff better TBH.

You can use spottiness.com to let others know about this guy anonymously

By posting him "the blackspot"...

Interesting, thanks!

I hear that a lot. It's ridiculous. I don't understand why recruiters feel it's appropriate to effectively threaten people. What a clown.

Indeed. Telling potential customers that you are thuggish and immoral isn't the best way to get them to do business with you. I have to wonder if it's ever worked as a tactic for him.

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