It is a favor in the sense that the company is taking the bigger risk. If you turn out to be a bad employee, it is costly to get rid of you, and the costs of fi

It is a favor in the sense that the company is taking the bigger risk. If you turn out to be a bad employee, it is costly to get rid of you, and the costs of finding a replacement are significant. Add to that the lost opportunity cost of being short-staffed and the costs add up. I'm guessing that 37signals has 10 or so employees. At that stage they can't afford any bad hires. Considering it's their money and their company that's at stake, I can't blame them for being careful. They're not acting like they're the only place any person would ever want to work, they're acting like they can't make any mistakes. So they have to be extremely careful, and reject everybody who isn't perfect.