I was contacted by Vaco Tech's Thomas Boyd, the technical recruiter at Vaco's office in Orlando, FL, May of 2011 about Web UI job. Over the phone, he said I was a great candidate for the position they were looking to fill. That is, until he noticed that I was currently unemployed.
Apparently, if you've been unemployed for longer than 6 months, as I had been, it can be "problematic" for Vaco to submit your candidacy to one of their clients. It was a pretty uncomfortable phone conversation-probably the most uncomfortable I've ever had with any recruiter in my 7 year career. It wasn't sufficient, for example, when I explained to Tom that I had been laid off because my employer closed up shop in Orlando or that I had been keeping myself busy with freelance work in the mean while.
"Uh huh, and how much freelancing have you done recently?" he asked.
"As much as I can get my hands on," I said.
Probably sensing how uncomfortable I felt during the whole thing, he requested that I send him a few samples of my artwork. I did so and, predictably, he stopped answering my calls or responding to my emails.
I called Vaco back a month later in June and spoke to their receptionist. I asked her if Vaco had a policy of automatically disqualifying candidates who were unemployed for six months or longer. After placing me on hold for a minute, she explained that Vaco themselves don't have a policy such as this but being unemployed makes it harder for them to submit your candidacy to their clients.
So, Vaco Technology does not discriminate against unemployed candidates or have any specific policy that automatically disqualifies them. Their clients, on the other hand, prefer non-unemployed candidates to fill their open positions.
In other words, Vaco discriminates against unemployed candidates on behalf of their clients. I imagine this way, their clients cannot be subjected to any lawsuits, public condemnation, media coverage, etc.
I think it goes without saying that I will never reach out to the folks at Vaco for help in finding a job, because apparently you need to be already employed before they can successfully place you into a position. What they're doing is shameful and illegal and I don't want to represent or be represented by a company who knowingly participates in any kind of discrimination. read more
