The chief executive of a business software firm says a response he received from an unsuccessful jobseeker is a "doozy".

Ryan Baker is the co-founder and head of Timely.

He was recently prompted to send a pushy job applicant an email which said that "based on your approach to applying for this position a sales role at Timely would not be a good fit for you".

"I appreciate the feedback you have given in your emails on our recruitment process. To reciprocate my feedback for you is that I have found your communication to us as aggressive and unpolished," he wrote.

"You may believe that ignoring my advice to follow the application process shows tenacity but your insistence to keep including me in your messages demonstrates other traits that would not suit the way we sell here at Timely."

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In response, the candidate, whom Baker has not identified, said, among other things: "I really don't need your words of wisdom and would have thought you would have taken the moral high ground and learnt to shut up. But obviously. You have very little to do and write to me.

"A few years ago I walked into a Merrill Lynch office and got the job I wanted on the spot and they said 'I like you came in and asked for a job, that should [sic] guts! This was in the US of course not backward Britain or down under.

"I am a bit of a hustler, and will step on toes to get things done if I have to. Have you met the founder of Twitter? I have. I would like to challenge you to this… I don't need to learn anything from descendants of convicts."

Baker said the response was a first.

"I've never had a response quite like this one. It's a doozy.

"I suspect recruiters would see things like this from time to time. Rejection is difficult and as humans we all respond to things in different ways. You never know what the human at the other end of the email has going on in their lives."

He said, even though unemployment is low, he was not finding it too hard to hire good people relatively quickly.

"In 2018 our team doubled from 40 to 80 people and we've hired over 20 people since July this year. 

"We crunched some numbers recently that showed over half of our hires come from existing staff referring the role and internal promotions. Our team plays a big part in the success of our recruitment."

He said it was harder in some specific roles. "We're looking for someone in marketing automation now and finding that hard as it's a specialist skill and the candidate pool is small.

"It also varies a bit by region. In the UK, where our company isn't as well known yet, it's harder than Australia and New Zealand."

He said Timely offered flexibility so people could work from anywhere. "It's an approach that works well for a lot of people, but isn't for everyone.

"We welcome people who think and act differently from the current team. We want to add to our culture as the team grows, rather than fitting people into the existing culture. But it does need to be a positive addition and in this case it didn't seem that would be the case."

He said people who were not successful for a role should ask for feedback, although not in this candidate's way.

"Keep in touch with companies that you would love to work with. Engaging with their people on social media and in person. Let them know what other types of roles you think you'd be suited for. You never know when the next opportunity might come along."

Timely started in 2012 and now has 85 staff in New Zealand, Australia and Britain. It provides appointment booking software for businesses.