This happened many years ago but still a testament to a lot of similar firms. I work in the world of Staffing/Recruiting and my first job in the industry was with a very large, well-known firm that a lot of people in this business have likely started at or a firm similar to this one. I had already spent many years within B2B and relationship sales before having worked as a Capital Markets Broker so the transition to this role as a Client Account Manager was a fairly seamless transition. Right out the gate, the desk manager was a plastic smile, corporate puppet whose actual job was to look for reasons to fire people! The turnover here was neck-breaking and every week there was a new hire with a new fire so I stopped bothering to make friends with anyone. I had little children and a family to support so I had to do whatever I could to stick this out and make it work as I didn't have the luxury to just quit.
One day, several months into the job, our Regional Director came to visit and was using the station in front of mine (it was opened because another person was shit-canned). During my lunch, I was talking with a co-worker who sat next to me and brought up a movie we both liked. I said something to the effect that I was up late the night before watching this movie because it was the only time I had to myself to watch it uninterrupted with having 3 small children running around. Innocuous conversation that lasted all of 5 minutes.
The next day, after our usual morning jobs meeting, I was asked to stay behind so my manager could speak to me a bout a “serious matter”. First, she tells me that my face is looking a bit scruffy because I decided not to shave that morning….had killer razor burn and needed it to heal. Told me I had to run down stairs afterward to purchase a razor and shave or would be sent home with docked pay for the day. Ok, awesome…I'll just suffer with bloody razor burn for your appeasement. Adding insult to my projected injury, she tells me that “Bob” overheard my conversation with my co-worker yesterday and was quite concerned!! The tone was as if he overheard me planning a murder or worse, theft of office supplies! I said, “Okaaay? Overheard me saying what, exactly?” He overheard me talking about watching a movie the night before and wanted my manager to call a meeting with me in order to discuss how HE feels that MY time should not be wasted on such things and that it would behoove me to utilize my time in a more productive manor such as “Reading a Sales Book” instead and proceeded to hand me a list of sales books they would like me to buy and be prepared to discuss!!! At first I thought it was a joke and I started laughing. I was like, wow, she actually has a sense of humor! Immediately she went stoic and assured me this was not a joke. Shocked and dismayed at how surreal the situation was, I took the list, said ok, no problem and wend down to the Duane Reade to buy a fucking razor!
I relive that situation in my head all the time and imagine all the many things I should have said to this woman. The fucking audacity to try and tell me what to do with MY time in MY own house is the exact Corporatist Scum-Baggery this country runs on! Meanwhile, I had excellent sales numbers and was the only person from this particular crop of hires that lasted as long as I did. I managed to get away with not having to give an oral fucking book report on Zig Ziggler sales bullshit and thankfully found a good firm to work at not long after. Turns out this type of behavior was par for the course in this business and the reason not many people make it. So next time a recruiter calls you about an opportunity, please have some patience and understanding for them because they may be working for these very same scum-bags!!