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Just make sure not to publicly discuss your deal/doubts about the company or the ceo will tantrum and revoke it. And then, in a bold stand for integrity, edit

by x0x0 11y ago

Just make sure not to publicly discuss your deal/doubts about the company or the ceo will tantrum and revoke it. And then, in a bold stand for integrity, edit his answer to remove the offer revokation. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-start-my-career-Uber-or-Zenefits?s=1 https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-start-my-caree... http://www.businessinsider.com/zenefits-ceo-rescinds-job-offer-on-quora-2015-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/zenefits-ceo-rescinds-job-off...

Yhippa 11y ago
This is the kind of stuff that haunts companies when prospective employees are doing research on where to work. Not easy to get rid of either.
- hobs 11y ago
  Yep, I wouldn't work at a company that was unhappy I didn't drink the koolaid before I even began working there.
dvt 11y ago
Came in here to post exactly this. Publicly rescinding an employee offer by a CEO is amateur hour and shows a clear sign of immaturity. Caveat emptor.
- x0x0 11y ago
  If you read the complaint, the potential employee essentially worries that zenefits won't be technically challenging and it won't be a name brand place that opens doors by having it on your resume. And if we're honest, the 2nd bit is definitely important for your career. A ceo who isn't a prick might have said we understand your concerns: here's [blah blah blah] reasons that our work is more technically challenging than it may appear from the outside or from your limited time interviewing here, and it's a personal and/or company goal to be recognized for the quality of our technical achievements as a peer of google. I happen to think that zenefits is not particularly technically challenging and is mostly wiring together integrations with 3rd party systems, but I'm open to being wrong. Nonetheless, this might have won them the employee without being a dick.
- ianstallings 11y ago
  Well in fairness he actually is an amateur and is learning on the job. I think he's done something pretty incredible myself. Zenefits really is one of those incredible outliers that is going to the stratosphere. Even an experienced CEO might have some things go wrong in such an extreme example. He made a public spectacle out of something small and he paid the price in bad publicity. But I've seen worse, by so-called pros. Sometimes people let their ego get the best of them. But that doesn't mean that every decision they've made is invalid.
untog 11y ago
While I agree that the CEO was an idiot there, I also don't have a huge amount of respect for anyone who judges where they work by whether it is a "buzzword like Uber".
- existencebox 11y ago
  I'm going to be unusually blunt here: I don't buy that name recognition isn't part of your equation (even if only a small or subconscious part). I could be totally ass-backwards wrong. You could have a mental discipline to make these sort of decisions in a far more principled fashion than myself or any engineer I've ever met; but that statement makes me set my Bayesian prior where I set it. At the end of the day, we all know that name recognition _is_ a component to how future opportunities may play out, like it or not, and as engineers trained (hopefully) in the art of considering the possible outcomes and impact of our actions, it would be going against our nature to pretend that having "Google" or "Microsoft" on your resume will not open doors. College is a prime example of this. Why are certain schools (Ivys, primarily) so highly recognized? Do they universally have better programs? Sometimes, sure, but so much of their cache comes exclusively from the institution itself being a signaling mechanism of exclusivity, and as was put, "buzzwordyness". In my view, it would be irresponsible to NOT consider any potential added value of positions when comparing them. You are not doing a disservice to either company or your own integrity as an engineer as long as the work you do is sound, and to suggest that you should put your own best interests aside because a given metric isn't "tasteful" seems shortsighted. (I do not mean to suggest that hopping companies to ride trends is something to be looked up to, but that when you make a decision, the more data that helps you obtain a positive outcome the better.)
- cyan_atrus 11y ago
  it's a kid fresh out of college, though -- how is he supposed to know any better? working for a name brand makes the decision a safer decision; i'd put the onus on those advising him to point out why that's not the best metric for making this decision.
  - irl_zebra 11y ago
    When one is at the point where they can kind of pick and choose where they want to go because they have an awesome resume and a great body of work, then let them choose how they wish. If I were going to my first or second job, I would go with Google or Facebook or Uber over a smaller/lesser known company as they would be great signaling mechanisms for my resume for future opportunities.

by x0x0 11y ago

Yhippa 11y ago

This is the kind of stuff that haunts companies when prospective employees are doing research on where to work. Not easy to get rid of either.

hobs 11y ago
Yep, I wouldn't work at a company that was unhappy I didn't drink the koolaid before I even began working there.

dvt 11y ago

Came in here to post exactly this. Publicly rescinding an employee offer by a CEO is amateur hour and shows a clear sign of immaturity. Caveat emptor.

x0x0 11y ago
If you read the complaint, the potential employee essentially worries that zenefits won't be technically challenging and it won't be a name brand place that opens doors by having it on your resume. And if we're honest, the 2nd bit is definitely important for your career. A ceo who isn't a prick might have said we understand your concerns: here's [blah blah blah] reasons that our work is more technically challenging than it may appear from the outside or from your limited time interviewing here, and it's a personal and/or company goal to be recognized for the quality of our technical achievements as a peer of google. I happen to think that zenefits is not particularly technically challenging and is mostly wiring together integrations with 3rd party systems, but I'm open to being wrong. Nonetheless, this might have won them the employee without being a dick.
ianstallings 11y ago
Well in fairness he actually is an amateur and is learning on the job. I think he's done something pretty incredible myself. Zenefits really is one of those incredible outliers that is going to the stratosphere. Even an experienced CEO might have some things go wrong in such an extreme example. He made a public spectacle out of something small and he paid the price in bad publicity. But I've seen worse, by so-called pros. Sometimes people let their ego get the best of them. But that doesn't mean that every decision they've made is invalid.

untog 11y ago

While I agree that the CEO was an idiot there, I also don't have a huge amount of respect for anyone who judges where they work by whether it is a "buzzword like Uber".

existencebox 11y ago
I'm going to be unusually blunt here: I don't buy that name recognition isn't part of your equation (even if only a small or subconscious part). I could be totally ass-backwards wrong. You could have a mental discipline to make these sort of decisions in a far more principled fashion than myself or any engineer I've ever met; but that statement makes me set my Bayesian prior where I set it. At the end of the day, we all know that name recognition _is_ a component to how future opportunities may play out, like it or not, and as engineers trained (hopefully) in the art of considering the possible outcomes and impact of our actions, it would be going against our nature to pretend that having "Google" or "Microsoft" on your resume will not open doors. College is a prime example of this. Why are certain schools (Ivys, primarily) so highly recognized? Do they universally have better programs? Sometimes, sure, but so much of their cache comes exclusively from the institution itself being a signaling mechanism of exclusivity, and as was put, "buzzwordyness". In my view, it would be irresponsible to NOT consider any potential added value of positions when comparing them. You are not doing a disservice to either company or your own integrity as an engineer as long as the work you do is sound, and to suggest that you should put your own best interests aside because a given metric isn't "tasteful" seems shortsighted. (I do not mean to suggest that hopping companies to ride trends is something to be looked up to, but that when you make a decision, the more data that helps you obtain a positive outcome the better.)
cyan_atrus 11y ago
it's a kid fresh out of college, though -- how is he supposed to know any better? working for a name brand makes the decision a safer decision; i'd put the onus on those advising him to point out why that's not the best metric for making this decision.
- irl_zebra 11y ago
  When one is at the point where they can kind of pick and choose where they want to go because they have an awesome resume and a great body of work, then let them choose how they wish. If I were going to my first or second job, I would go with Google or Facebook or Uber over a smaller/lesser known company as they would be great signaling mechanisms for my resume for future opportunities.