A job applicant backed out of an interview with a top multinational company after being overwhelmed by an aggressive recruiter who contacted them nearly 60 times over just three days.
The experience, shared on Reddit in a post titled "I cancelled the interview!", has gone viral and sparked a broader conversation about recruiter boundaries and candidate privacy.
According to the post, between Monday and Wednesday, the recruiter sent four emails, made 15 phone calls, and fired off 45 text messages-some as late as 10 pm. This continued even after the applicant said they had already spoken to the recruiter multiple times and shared all necessary documents via email.
"At one point, when I returned one of her calls, someone else picked up the phone. That's when it really felt off," the candidate wrote, calling the behaviour "intrusive and unprofessional."
Eventually, the applicant emailed the interviewers directly to withdraw from the process-and still received two more calls before blocking the recruiter's number.
"Her behaviour completely turned me off from one of the biggest global companies," the user said.
The post triggered strong reactions online.
A user wrote, "Sounds very unprofessional on her end. Good for you honestly."
Another user commented, "Called 15 times/texted 45 times is psychotic behavior. I've blocked women I've taken out on dates for less. On the third call you tell them please only call in an emergency and respect my time. Are you sure they were a legit agency or firm?"
"It seemed very strange, and I did get the feeling it was a scam, until I saw the interviewer had an email and LinkedIn from the company. So definitely just poor agency behaviour," the third user analysed.
