Martin R. Schneider was confused when he found himself in an unpleasant and unusual exchange with a client. He said the client was being "rude" and "dismissive."
But then he noticed a minor detail — his emails were set to his co-worker's signature, Nicole Hallberg.
When Schneider realized the mix-up, he and Hallberg decided to run an experiment and swapped email signatures for two weeks.
So here's a little story of the time @nickyknacks taught me how impossible it is for professional women to get the respect they deserve:
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Nicole and I worked for a small employment service firm and one complaint always came from our boss: She took too long to work with clients.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
(This boss was an efficiency-fetishizing gig economy-loving douchebag but that's another story.)
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
As her supervisor, I considered this a minor nuisance at best. I figured the reason I got things done faster was from having more experience
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
But I got stuck monitoring her time and nagging her on the boss' behalf. We both hated it and she tried so hard to speed up with good work.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
So one day I'm emailing a client back-and-forth about his resume and he is just being IMPOSSIBLE. Rude, dismissive, ignoring my questions.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Telling me his methods were the industry standards (they weren't) and I couldn't understand the terms he used (I could).
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Anyway I was getting sick of his shit when I noticed something.
Thanks to our shared inbox, I'd been signing all communications as "Nicole"— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
It was Nicole he was being rude to, not me. So out of curiosity I said "Hey this is Martin, I'm taking over this project for Nicole."
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENT. Positive reception, thanking me for suggestions, responds promptly, saying "great questions!" Became a model client.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Note: My technique and advice never changed. The only difference was that I had a man's name now.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
So I asked Nicole if this happened all the time. Her response: "I mean, not ALL the time... but yeah. A lot."
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
We did an experiment: For two weeks we switched names. I signed all client emails as Nicole. She signed as me.
Folks. It fucking sucked.— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
I was in hell. Everything I asked or suggested was questioned. Clients I could do in my sleep were condescending. One asked if I was single.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
I wasn't any better at the job than she was, I just had this invisible advantage.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
After this started gaining traction on Twitter, Hallberg took to her blog to share her side of the story.
Hallberg says this isn't the first time she's experienced sexism on the job. When she first started, she recounts: "My boss complimented me and himself, saying that 'I wasn’t going to consider hiring any females, but I’m glad I did. You should be proud; I had thousands of applications, but yours stuck out to me and made me decide to give hiring a girl a try.' Interesting."
