I recently commented on an article written by a newly employed HR Director. It was a 'stick your tongue out moment' at a recruitment consultant who had provided her with bad service as a candidate a number of years previously.

The point of the article and the 'punchline' was that now she was in employment again, she would reject his advances when he sheepishly knocked on her door asking if she would consider using him and his agency to source candidates for her organisation. Not only that, but she would boast to the world on LinkedIn about her new found powers of rejection. Whilst I appreciated the sentiment of revenge, the irony was not lost on me.

You see I have been in this industry for many years now and the one thing I have learnt (there may be a few other things) is that there is no room for this type of logic when the boot is on the other foot.

Only last week a senior level Finance Director approached us to look for a new position for him following his recent redundancy. He was the same individual I had met and called religiously over the last 10 years and who had given me nothing (yes I obviously impressed him massively). Many finance people had entered and left his department over the decade and I was never once given the opportunity to put our Consultancy to the test. Strangely he now felt that we were well equipped to deal with the most important search of all ... a new position for him.

I would have loved to have told him where to go and laughed in his face when he fired through his relevant application for one of our vacancies last week, except that a career in recruitment never allows you to play on that level playing field so accessible to everyone else.

Aside from massively cutting off my nose to spite my face, a negative and bitter response would no doubt have caused shock waves across the county and I have every confidence that my unprofessional reaction would have found its way onto all forms of social media.

So I kept quiet, accepted his details and encouraged my team to do their very best in finding him a new position. If he is right for one of our clients, then I won't allow petty grievances to get in the way of the right outcome for all. I learnt a long time ago that you don't do this job for praise and you certainly don't do it if admiration and recognition are top of your list of drivers. That said it would be nice if every now again, wounded candidates realised that there is good and bad in all walks of life and certainly all professions.

Despite what you may be lead to believe by following your LinkedIn timeline, idiots are not exclusive to recruitment. The only difference between those in our sector and any other, is that ours seem to be hung out to dry for all those to see, and with no right of reply.