Recruiter rejects influencer candidate who featured her in a video without permission, sparks debate

At times, people forget that their deeds might hurt someone's feelings and act insensitively. However, karma knows how to silence them. The internet has many instances of karma working its magic and one of the best examples would be the one narrated by a woman known by u/little-peach1234 on Reddit. Seeking the internet's help, the woman second-guessed the way she handled the TikToker who body-shamed her. When the TikToker ended up being one of the candidates she had to recruit, the woman decided to show no mercy and the internet backed her up.

A month ago, the recruiter bumped into the TikTok post where the creator had shared pictures of random strangers in public and rated their outfits. The woman was flabbergasted to see her own picture on the slides. "My slide was of me wearing a not-so-great outfit as I was on the way back from dropping my daughter off at a friend's house and popped to my local shop to grab milk," she explained. The TikToker's rating and comments enraged her more. Her slide was captioned, "2/10, it’s giving just woke up and couldn’t be bothered, not flattering for the body type either." 

That TikTok post ruined her day because she didn't ask to be clicked in the first place let alone be judged based on her outfit that "wasn't supposed to be an outfit." The TikTok creator's face and name lingered in her mind for long. Recently, when she was going through the candidates she had to interview, the recruiter came across a familiar name. "As soon as this woman sat down it clicked and I knew exactly who she was. Once she sat down I let her know that I recognised her and that I would not be continuing the interview based on the fact I was aware of who she was and then searched her name on the TikTok app and showed her the video she made," she explained.  

Expressing her frustration over being snapped in public and shamed online, the recruiter refused to go on with the interview. "She apologized and told me she did not think of the implications at the time. I dismissed the interview," she pointed out. However, when sharing this incident with her friends, some of them thought it was out of line to reject the candidate. "Some of them did not agree and told me I should have set aside my own feelings and kept it professional. Other friends agreed with me and said I was within reason," she added. This made her wonder if she overreacted as a recruiter and should've continued the interview.

However, the internet was totally supportive of the recruiter's perspective. "Nope, you’re not wrong. The fact that she 'didn’t think of the implications at the time' disqualifies her from any jobs with responsibility in my opinion," said u/Over-Marionberry-686. "Not wrong! It’s why people need to be careful of what they put out there. You literally never know who will see it!" pointed out u/scholralyowl3. "You know her character and that it doesn't align with the type of person you are hiring. End of story," added u/genescheesesthatplz. "You did keep it professional. The candidate has a potentially damaging social media habit that could bring reputational damage to your organization," chimed in u/MrAlf0nse.