This ... doesn't seem that bad? And I don't think I'd conclude that someone had found out something about me illegally or unethically unless there was something really shitty to find out?
Having hired over 200 people in my career, I always am willing to tell them directly why I didn't hire them and give them constructive feedback or if I found something they should make sure doesn't get discovered by other companies.
The only reason to lie about why I wasn't hired is because they are hiding something.
It’s not great that they were this unprofessional, but many (most?) companies will not give you the real reason for passing. You may get “there were better candidates” and it might be true, but it might just have been your expected salary, or your unwillingness to work weekends/long hours, etc.
Very true - I've reached the interview stage and been rejected probably a dozen times over my career. The only company which provided detailed feedback on my performance was Facebook. All the others just sent a generic rejection mail.
That's why it's interesting he didn't ghost me. He did provide a reason: timeline. Which is a stupid reason since timeline can be pushed out. Then he didn't even try to give another reason and just ghosted me.
I was going to respond same thing :sweat:. this seems like _normal_ startup hiring based on my experiences. People pass, people make stuff up to pass. Sticker shock could have factored in for CEO. I def empathize with the author. They thought they were a shoe in, thought everything was smooth and then wasn't responded to promptly, that sucks. I'm sure it was a rollercoaster during the time, excited about the new role, opportunity and $ and then denied for no known reason.
Not sure if it's reasonable to jump to illegal or unethical information?
I read the post, it seems someone cancelled a meeting and the candidate got a little antsy, then started using a type of language that scared off the employer.
Nothing in the posts seems extremely outrageous to me, they could have been nicer to him ... but let's be serious.
As a matter of fact, after reading the post I would not hire this candidate either - to be honest. Something feels very odd -like essential information has been left out.
He seems like someone that thinks very highly of themselves, always a bad sign.
It looks like where you went wrong was replying with a screenshot of your calendar. That and the likely passive aggressive text accompanying it was probably a red flag for Jacob. The fact that you posted this drivel vindicates him.
I never harassed him about a return receipt. I just get to see when he reads my emails so I know how long it takes him to respond.
It's a feature of Superhuman. Controversial for sure, but you can even enable them in Gmail. Honestly, a feature built into every Enterprise email software out there. Not uncommon at all.
They are a bit creepy for sure. It's strange to have entered into an adversarial relationship so suddenly, perhaps the company picked up on it and didn't want to get into an even bigger fight with this person (although, they seem to have taken it there anyway).
They’re not even reliable! Something automated might have triggered the read receipt, without the addressee actually opening (let alone reading) the email.
Got the same impression. If the person writing himself wasn't able to frame this in a way favorable to him, I don't think we even need to know the other side of the story.
Here is my reply to Jacob when the meeting was cancelled. Would you call this antsy language?:
FYI: Calendly is not a very reliable piece of software. When I went to reschedule the meeting, it said it was cancelled. I'm sure she sent her note through it and Calendly just didn't cancel the meeting on my calendar, which I've experienced several times while using it. Not Laila's fault at all. No hard feelings.
Sounds like the guy needs of a dose of Raylan Givens: "If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole."
Not sure if this is canvassed voting, or a ton of people reflexively vote up anything negative.
Based on the entitlement throughout ("rescinded my offer" when the interview process clearly hadn't completed), I'm not surprised they might have found a reason not to go forward.
I have to agree with the other comments that this isn't too bad an experience, it's unfortunate and maybe unprofessional. From your article I get the impression there could be any number of legitimate reasons that the CEO isn't prepared to share. It's less likely the CEO just set out to lie to you.
You dodged a bullet I guess, might be worth keeping an eye on the company, maybe they're shutting down unexpectedly. Good luck with the search though.
Ha! That's nothing...I had a senior technologist at Nvidia ask me to reschedule our interview so I could go research his accomplishments and provide a written report outlining his profound impacts...
CEO is slightly tardy replying to an email, then declines to give a detailed reason for passing on the candidate? OP's reaction here makes it pretty clear that the company made a good decision.
We'll find out why when the new CTO is publicly announced. I suspect they simply found someone else. Doesn't help that the CEO is quick to make promises verbally, but I'm sure this is common.
I don’t really understand why I found this at the top of HN, but it feels likely to be popular for reasons other than intended, as OP comes off as entitled and prone to overreaction.
I would never hire someone who wrote a post like this in response to such a mild slight, it demonstrates a tendency to blow small things way out of proportion. The supposed offenses of the employer are extremely commonplace in hiring, saying this from having been on both sides many times.
Sometimes you don’t get to know why they took a pass, usually because you wouldn’t like the answer. Having such thin skin is a personality flaw and I daresay the CEO picked up on that.
Maybe Levee is wading into the AI-assisted talent search space (ala Draup, Fetcher, hireview) and the algorithm spotted something "iffy"? (Not saying there is anything truly "iffy", but who knows).
Sorry to hear that you had this experience. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. Given your prior experience as a very senior person, you're probably in-tune with the current state of the economy. It's easy to imagine that a company that is primarily focused on transforming the hiring process may be experiencing real hardship and uncertainty at the moment. Circumstances change. Don't resort to public personal attacks.
I feel like this post comes off more poorly for you than them.
Honestly, there's nothing that they've done that's particularly egregious - lying about reasons isn't ethical but it's something that happens a lot. Writing a full blog post about how terrible they are though might make other companies nervous that you'd do the same to them for some perceived slight.
I mean they sound disorganized or indecisive or something, but this doesn't seem outrageously unprofessional or disrespectful to me.
I wonder what doting kid-gloves the author has been handled with in the past to warrant that assessment.
Also, reading recent tech job news, it seems like the author should maybe steel themselves for further disrespect and unprofessionalism if they are still looking for work.
Users flag and down vote for all sorts of reasons - from what I see at times, no rhyme or reason even if it's interesting or answers someone's query directly. However I would think that removing the content ... new users like myself would consider flagging the thread ... I was temped to, but noted your reply here and sort of guess you're thinking about how to explain it better /fully.
The FAQ outlines resubmission is frowned upon unless some time has passed, I think a year was mentioned.
You have my commiserations, but you should consider perhaps it a silver lining - some people seem professional, but are burdened with a poor communication skills or management hierarchy communication latency - IMO it'd lead to annoyance / irritation somewhere down the track. At the very least an interview process should end with a kind rejection blurb.
Frankly, this reads like a vendetta post, and HN isn't your personal army.
I've read over your Substack, other posts you've submitted to HN, posts made on Twitter, and a very lengthy thread you went on recently. You haven't listened to anyone who has said this to you in less direct words, so maybe this will help: your posts make you not seem well.
I wouldn't make you my boss, I wouldn't hire you, and I certainly wouldn't invest in you; not in this state anyway. You seem detached from reality, angry, and entitled. Delete this crap, delete your comments on HN (dang can help with that), and get into a therapy session showing them all of this. They can help you deal with anger, stress, and disappointment. Maybe you've just dealt with a lot of that lately.
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[ 613 ms ] story [ 2418 ms ] threadThe only reason to lie about why I wasn't hired is because they are hiding something.
Not sure if it's reasonable to jump to illegal or unethical information?
What qualified person would want to work at a place like that?
They decided to pass on OP, so the CEO is a serial liar (for certain)??
Hmm... I think I need more evidence for such bold claims.
Also...
> Since I am very senior, the 2nd interview was barely an interview at all.
This... just isn't how it works.
Something seemed really off about the entire post.
Nothing in the posts seems extremely outrageous to me, they could have been nicer to him ... but let's be serious.
As a matter of fact, after reading the post I would not hire this candidate either - to be honest. Something feels very odd -like essential information has been left out.
He seems like someone that thinks very highly of themselves, always a bad sign.
all the names and accusations, it reflects extraordinarily badly on the writer, primarily
goes to show that intelligent people with hurt feelings are doing idiotic things and end up harming themselves just to "get back" to the other side
Are return receipts still a thing?
I have turned off those by default and would never return one - unless I was a candidate and really needed a job :-)
But for a candidate to be harrasing me about a return receipt ... good riddance friend
It's a feature of Superhuman. Controversial for sure, but you can even enable them in Gmail. Honestly, a feature built into every Enterprise email software out there. Not uncommon at all.
FYI: Calendly is not a very reliable piece of software. When I went to reschedule the meeting, it said it was cancelled. I'm sure she sent her note through it and Calendly just didn't cancel the meeting on my calendar, which I've experienced several times while using it. Not Laila's fault at all. No hard feelings.
Just want to push forward :)
Based on the entitlement throughout ("rescinded my offer" when the interview process clearly hadn't completed), I'm not surprised they might have found a reason not to go forward.
Can't say I've had the same experience.
Raise your hand if you’ve heard of vastly worse treatment of candidates. Damn, that’s a lot of hands…
You dodged a bullet I guess, might be worth keeping an eye on the company, maybe they're shutting down unexpectedly. Good luck with the search though.
It's rather unfortunate, but with interviewing, like with dating, you don't always get to know why the other party passed on you.
I would never hire someone who wrote a post like this in response to such a mild slight, it demonstrates a tendency to blow small things way out of proportion. The supposed offenses of the employer are extremely commonplace in hiring, saying this from having been on both sides many times.
Sometimes you don’t get to know why they took a pass, usually because you wouldn’t like the answer. Having such thin skin is a personality flaw and I daresay the CEO picked up on that.
Honestly, there's nothing that they've done that's particularly egregious - lying about reasons isn't ethical but it's something that happens a lot. Writing a full blog post about how terrible they are though might make other companies nervous that you'd do the same to them for some perceived slight.
Then the second meeting never happened and "things got weird."
I wonder what his references said.
I wonder what doting kid-gloves the author has been handled with in the past to warrant that assessment.
Also, reading recent tech job news, it seems like the author should maybe steel themselves for further disrespect and unprofessionalism if they are still looking for work.
The FAQ outlines resubmission is frowned upon unless some time has passed, I think a year was mentioned.
You have my commiserations, but you should consider perhaps it a silver lining - some people seem professional, but are burdened with a poor communication skills or management hierarchy communication latency - IMO it'd lead to annoyance / irritation somewhere down the track. At the very least an interview process should end with a kind rejection blurb.
I've read over your Substack, other posts you've submitted to HN, posts made on Twitter, and a very lengthy thread you went on recently. You haven't listened to anyone who has said this to you in less direct words, so maybe this will help: your posts make you not seem well.
I wouldn't make you my boss, I wouldn't hire you, and I certainly wouldn't invest in you; not in this state anyway. You seem detached from reality, angry, and entitled. Delete this crap, delete your comments on HN (dang can help with that), and get into a therapy session showing them all of this. They can help you deal with anger, stress, and disappointment. Maybe you've just dealt with a lot of that lately.