Recruiter's LinkedIn DMs Leak After Talking Trash About Candidates

The recruiting gods delivered swift and merciless justice this week when a senior agency recruiter accidentally added a candidate to a LinkedIn group chat where she'd been roasting candidates for months.

The candidate screenshot everything and posted it to Twitter. It went viral. The recruiter's career imploded. Karma is undefeated.

The Setup: A Tale of Professional Courtesy (Not)

The recruiter—let's call her "Sarah" because that's her actual name on LinkedIn before she deleted everything—worked for a mid-tier tech recruiting agency. She'd been building what she thought was a private group chat with other recruiters where they shared candidates and, apparently, engaged in some truly unprofessional commentary.

According to screenshots shared on Reddit's r/recruiting, the messages included gems like:

• "This guy's resume is a dumpster fire. 6 jobs in 4 years. Hard pass but I'll submit him anyway for the fee."
• "She asked for $150K 😂😂😂 Girl, you're a 5/10 candidate at best. Offered her $95K."
• "Desperate candidate alert! He actually said he 'needs this job.' Easy to lowball."
• "Just told this candidate the role is 'very competitive' (it's not, we have zero other applicants lol)"

You know, normal stuff that definitely won't come back to haunt you.

The Accident Heard Round the Internet

Sarah was trying to add another recruiter to the group chat. Instead, she added "Mike"—a software engineer she'd just finished interviewing for a role.

Mike immediately saw months of chat history. Including messages about himself.

Specifically: "Mike seems desperate—company just did layoffs. Gonna offer him 20% below range and see if he bites. These laid-off guys always cave."

Mike did not, in fact, cave. Mike screenshot everything. Mike posted to Twitter with the caption "This is why you don't trust recruiters."

The tweet got 47,000 retweets in 18 hours.

The Messages Were Chef's Kiss Terrible

The leaked chat history was a masterclass in unprofessionalism. Highlights include:

On Salary Negotiations:

• "Never give your real budget. Tell them it's $20K less, then 'fight' to get them the actual amount. They'll think you're a hero."
• "Client approved $180K. Gonna offer $145K and pocket the difference in my commission."

On Candidates:

• "This woman asked about maternity leave in the screening call 🚩🚩🚩 Hard no."
• "Foreign name, heavy accent. Client won't say it but they want 'cultural fit.' Passing."
• "Older candidate (50+). Why do these people even apply to startups?"

On Interview Feedback:

• "Hiring manager hated him but I need my placement numbers. Gonna convince them to move him forward anyway."
• "She's overqualified but desperate. Perfect combo—she'll take less money and won't negotiate."

According to posts on Blind, the chat also included recruiters coordinating to suppress salary information and avoid competing with each other for placements—potentially illegal collusion.

The Fallout Was Swift and Brutal

Sarah deleted her LinkedIn profile within 2 hours of the leak. Too late. Screenshots had already circulated to thousands of people, including her employer, clients, and basically everyone in tech recruiting Twitter.

Her agency issued a statement on LinkedIn saying they'd "parted ways" with Sarah and were "reviewing internal communications policies." Translation: she got fired, and they're terrified of lawsuits.

Multiple clients mentioned in the leaked chats pulled their contracts. One CEO posted on LinkedIn: "We hired this agency to represent our company professionally. This behavior is inexcusable and discriminatory. Contract terminated."

The other recruiters in the group chat also scrambled to delete their profiles. Several got fired or "resigned." One posted a long apology on LinkedIn about "learning and growing." The comments section destroyed her.

The Candidates Strike Back

Remember Mike, the laid-off engineer Sarah tried to lowball? He got seven job offers within 48 hours of the tweet going viral—including one from Sarah's former client at the exact salary she'd told him was "impossible."

He accepted it and posted: "Thanks Sarah! Your leaked DMs got me $185K instead of the $120K you offered. Appreciate the career boost!"

Another candidate mentioned in the chats—the woman who asked about maternity leave—was contacted by three employment attorneys offering pro-bono representation for potential discrimination claims.

The "older candidate (50+)" turned out to be a well-respected engineer with 25 years of experience who's now considering age discrimination litigation, according to TechCrunch.

The Industry Response: Uncomfortable Silence

The most fascinating part? The muted response from the recruiting industry. A few recruiting thought leaders posted generic statements about "professionalism" and "treating candidates with respect."

But behind the scenes, recruiters on recruiting forums were freaking out, wondering if their own private messages could leak. Some were deleting old chat histories. Others were suddenly very concerned about compliance training.

One agency owner told ERE Media: "This is a wake-up call for the industry. Private venting is one thing, but this crossed so many lines—ethics, legality, basic human decency."

Another recruiter on Twitter said: "We all vent about difficult candidates. But this wasn't venting—it was discrimination, collusion, and fraud. She deserved everything she got."

The Lesson Recruiters Won't Learn

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Sarah's chat isn't unique. Talk to any candidate who's been through the job search grinder, and they'll tell you they've felt this treatment even if they haven't seen the receipts.

The lowball offers. The arbitrary disqualifications. The ghosting. The lies about "budget constraints." It's all standard practice in parts of the recruiting industry—Sarah just said the quiet parts out loud in a chat that went public.

Will this change anything? Probably not. Recruiters will continue doing exactly what Sarah was doing—they'll just be more careful about where they say it.

But at least now candidates have receipts. And every recruiter should remember: screenshots are forever, LinkedIn group chats aren't as private as you think, and karma has perfect timing.

Where Things Stand Now

Sarah has reportedly left the recruiting industry entirely and deleted all social media presence. Her agency lost approximately $400,000 in annual contracts, according to industry sources.

Mike, the engineer who exposed everything, has become a minor celebrity in tech circles. He's been invited to speak at recruiting conferences about "the candidate experience" (the irony is delicious).

And the rest of the recruiting world? They're quietly checking their message history and praying to whatever gods govern LinkedIn DMs that they're not next.

Pro tip for recruiters: if you wouldn't say it to a candidate's face, don't put it in writing. And if you do put it in writing, triple-check who's in the chat before hitting send.

Or better yet: just treat people like human beings and you won't have to worry about your messages leaking.

Revolutionary concept, I know.