Meghna Jain found a job listing on Indeed. She applied. The recruiter — Manish Goel — asked her to move the conversation to WhatsApp.
First, he asked for her resume. She sent it.
Then he said: "Photo also."
She paused. It felt off. But she reasoned that maybe this was their process — some companies ask for a headshot. She sent a decent photo and asked: "Is this fine?"
His reply: "Yes sweetheart."
That is the word a recruiter used to respond to a job applicant who had just sent him her photo on WhatsApp. Not "yes, received" or "thank you" or any professional acknowledgement. Sweetheart.
Meghna called it out immediately. "Excuse me? Why u calling me sweetheart?" She followed with "????" and "How dare you?" — the exact reaction anyone with self-respect would have.
She later posted the screenshots publicly on LinkedIn with a clear message: this is not about being too sensitive. It is about basic respect in a professional setting. Recruiters hold power in the hiring process. That power should not be used to extract photos from applicants and respond to them with terms of endearment.
The pattern here is worth naming. Moving a candidate from a professional platform to WhatsApp lowers the formality and the accountability. Asking for a resume is legitimate. Asking for a photo after the resume — on WhatsApp, with no stated reason — is a different kind of ask. And "yes sweetheart" as a response to a woman's photo is not a slip. It is a choice.
Meghna deleted her photo from the chat after this exchange. The conversation remained. She shared it anyway.
Some people will read this and say it was a small thing. One word. An older man, maybe not aware. But that framing is exactly what keeps this behaviour going. Job seekers — especially young women — are already in a vulnerable position during a hiring process. They are trying to make a good impression, trying not to seem difficult, trying to get the job. That is the precise moment someone like this chooses to push a boundary.
She pushed back. She made it public. That is the right call every time.