From: Rachel at Nullify <rachel@nullify.co>
Date: March 5, 2021
Subject: Your Nullify application
Hi Puja,
Thanks so much for your interest in our Customer Support role here at Nullify! Over 700 people sent in applications, but yours caught my attention, mainly because I noticed we went to the same university.
Do you have time for a quick chat on the phone this week? You can book it with me here.
In the meantime, here’s a video you can watch about Life at Nullify. It cost us $40,000 to make and renders us indiscernible from virtually any other startup. You know, “Our app is changing the world, we work hard and play hard, this dog here is our Chief Love Officer,” etc.
I look forward to speaking with you!
Best,
Rachel G
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From: Rachel at Nullify <rachel@nullify.co>
Date: March 11, 2021
Subject: Next steps
Hi Puja!
Thanks again for chatting with me this week. It was a great chance for me to ask the same five questions I ask all day and then just sort of let my eyes glaze over while half-heartedly making sure you don’t say anything alarming. Anyway, you did great!
I'd now like to invite you to participate in a “Your Life, Your Words” interview, which you can schedule here. This one will be with me again, and I won’t be asking about any of your relevant job experience, giving you any ideas about what compensation or benefits you can look forward to, or even lobbing any hints your way about what someone in this role can expect on a day-to-day basis.
It’s really more of a chance for me to take an hour of your work day to get to know the real you. Basically, we’ll be going over some of your lighter life traumas in detail, and I'll use the gut feel I get to communicate your worth as a candidate to the hiring manager. Think of it like a first date, but with much blurrier boundaries. Let’s have fun with it!
Talk soon,
Rachel G
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From: Rachel at Nullify <rachel@nullify.co>
Date: April 5, 2021
Subject: Next steps
Hi Puja,
Hope you’re well! Sorry for taking some time to get back to you. Truth be told, our hiring manager is swamped with their own work right now, and we don’t have the resources in place to help them with that. So until we fill this role, they’re basically working two full-time jobs. Sort of ironic, right?
I am pleased to tell you, though, that we’d like to move on to the next step of the hiring process with you: A one-on-one interview with our hiring manager.
Once again, what we’re most interested in here isn’t your experience and skill set. Those things can be taught! We’re more concerned about whether you’re a good culture fit. If you’re not sure what that means—well, good! It bodes much better for our legal department that we keep the definition murky.
Since we’re more interested in who you are versus what you can do, there’s not much you need to do to prepare for this interview. Just a quick 50-slide deck outlining how you would overhaul our Customer Success program from top to bottom.
How’s tomorrow at 3 pm?
Thanks again,
Rachel G
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From: Rachel at Nullify <rachel@nullify.co>
Date: June 24, 2021
Subject: Re: Just following up
Hi Puja!
Wow, sorry for the late response. I don’t want you to think that replying to you is low on my list of priorities. It’s just been so busy around here lately! You know how it goes when you’re moving fast and breaking things.
First off, I want to thank you for all the time you put into interviewing with us here at Nullify. We were very impressed with what you brought to the table during each of your many interviews, and then again a few weeks later when the team took you out for dinner and drinks (which I know must have felt like one last formality on your way to a sure thing).
I can imagine you’ve been quite anxious to hear a response back from us since then, and I hope two and a half months isn’t too long to have waited for a clear answer, which is: No thanks.
The truth is, we had many strong candidates for this role, and the other person we brought in for the final interview stages was just a better overall fit. Again, I won’t be elaborating on what that actually means.
Also, if I can offer you some constructive feedback, I was a little taken aback that you brought up compensation after four interviews and the strategy presentation you gave to three members of our leadership team. Perhaps you would be wise to remember that many people would love to have this job. Some people—not me, of course!—might even say that having the privilege to work here is payment enough.
I do encourage you to keep an eye out for future roles, though, and let me know if any stand out to you. I can’t promise you preferential treatment for having gone through this process before, but at least you’ll know what to expect next time.
All the best, and I hope to hear from you again someday if you don’t end up giving up on this industry entirely and moving to the country to start a life of quiet anonymity elsewhere.
With gratitude,
Rachel G
