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I was curious what "chastise an engineer candidate on Quora" meant so I looked it up: http://qr.ae/7IErH1 http://qr.ae/7IErH1 Sounds like a perfectly reasonabl

I was curious what "chastise an engineer candidate on Quora" meant so I looked it up: http://qr.ae/7IErH1 http://qr.ae/7IErH1 Sounds like a perfectly reasonable answer to me. Especially after reading the question. It gives me a bad taste, I wouldn't want to work with that guy. He's the annoying guy at the table who is like "I work at x" and wants everybody to go "oooh," not "wtf is zenefits?" It reeks of the almost ubiquitous entitled tech engineer stench. If anything, this makes me appreciate the integrity of Conrad.

spicyj 11y ago
See also http://qz.com/400027/engineer-asks-quora-which-job-offer-to-take-ceo-replies-not-ours/ http://qz.com/400027/engineer-asks-quora-which-job-offer-to-....
ahlatimer 11y ago
The worst part of that answer was edited out. He had "(n.b. -- we are revoking the questioner's offer to work at Zenefits)." Which is a reasonable thing to do, I guess, if you feel the person isn't all that interested in working for your company, but it isn't all that reasonable to say in a public forum. Edit: Here's a link that has the quote about rescinding the offer: http://www.quora.com/Zenefits-CEO-Rescinds-Job-Offer-May-2015/Should-Zenefits-CEO-Parker-Conrad-regret-publicly-rescinding-a-job-offer-on-Quora http://www.quora.com/Zenefits-CEO-Rescinds-Job-Offer-May-201...
- gravity13 11y ago
  lol I didn't know that. Meh. It's something I would have done myself in the same situation.
  - jasonlotito 11y ago
    You would have shared publicly that you are revoking someones employment offer because you found them seeking career advice on a Q&A board?
    - bsder 11y ago
      This one is kind of tough. I'd like to think that I'd be better than the Zenefits CEO, but, man, this kid makes it really hard to take his side. First, it shows really poor judgment on the part of the junior engineer. Dear God, did you think that people can't identify you, specifically? It's not like Zenefits is giving out 10 job offers a day. Second, you're likely to jump as soon as you get the chance. Neither employer nor employee have any commitment to one another. Okay, fine. But, as an employer, will you completely leave me hanging at a critical time or will you stick a couple of months to complete your task before jumping. Given your lack of discretion, probably you'll leave me hanging. Third, are you going to air dirty laundry in public? Every company has some, even successful ones. Startups are worse. Again, lack of discretion. So, yeah, I'd rescind that offer very fast. He'll be lucky if Uber doesn't rescind his offer. I guarantee if I were HR at Uber I'd be trying to pick him out to rescind it. Would I air that publicly? Probably not. However, this kid should consider himself lucky that the CEO called him out publicly so he knows what he did wrong. If I were the CEO, I'd probably just rescind his offer without comment. I'd call Uber HR, and they'd rescind his offer without comment. And, he'd be wondering what the hell happened.
      - jsprogrammer 11y ago
        >But, as an employer, will you completely leave me hanging at a critical time or will you stick a couple of months to complete your task before jumping. And do you put out a handbook or other disclaimer stating that the employer and employee have zero obligation to each other and can terminate the relationship at any time?
        bsder 11y ago
        Yes, but I generally also attempt to engage in professional courtesy. And, yes, this goes both ways. If I, as a boss, can see the writing on the wall, I will attempt to protect my employees. While that includes internal protection in a political firefight, it also includes calling up friends at other companies to see if they might have a job for people on my team if I can see that it's going to be ugly. I have also helped usher people out of my company because I simply couldn't get them what they were worth. It's called "being a professional". It's also called "this industry is damn small, don't piss off the good people in it." Sometimes you get caught completely unaware and get sacked without notice, but it's really rare. Most senior people can tell when things are about to get bad generally a month or two in advance--if not more.
  - thrillgore 11y ago
    Really? I would have kept my mouth shut and not removed doubt about my foolery.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - gravity13 11y ago
      Why? To preserve my "image" with fickle internet communities full of judgmental people who give me a double standard because my name is known? This is why I'm glad I'm not famous...
      - jasonlotito 11y ago
        Smart people don't want to work for fools.
CardenB 11y ago
I get where you're coming from, but you have to realize, this guy is a new grad and he's probably pretty scared about which path to take because he doesn't understand the long term implications. He went to quota to discuss it with people and try to figure things out. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the guy was just trying to make the best decision for himself. The right thing would have been for the CEO to let the guy talk it out and come to the conclusion that Zenefits would be the best opportunity for him, not to attack him publicly for trying to figure out the best career path.
- gravity13 11y ago
  Disagree. Perhaps because I was never an entitled CS grad with the world vying for my attention? I was never scared about whether or not I'd make $120k or $400k. I just wanted to work on something I believed in and be a positive force in this world. "attack him publicly" - interesting choice of words there.

spicyj 11y ago

See also http://qz.com/400027/engineer-asks-quora-which-job-offer-to-take-ceo-replies-not-ours/ http://qz.com/400027/engineer-asks-quora-which-job-offer-to-....

ahlatimer 11y ago

The worst part of that answer was edited out. He had "(n.b. -- we are revoking the questioner's offer to work at Zenefits)." Which is a reasonable thing to do, I guess, if you feel the person isn't all that interested in working for your company, but it isn't all that reasonable to say in a public forum. Edit: Here's a link that has the quote about rescinding the offer: http://www.quora.com/Zenefits-CEO-Rescinds-Job-Offer-May-2015/Should-Zenefits-CEO-Parker-Conrad-regret-publicly-rescinding-a-job-offer-on-Quora http://www.quora.com/Zenefits-CEO-Rescinds-Job-Offer-May-201...

gravity13 11y ago
lol I didn't know that. Meh. It's something I would have done myself in the same situation.
- jasonlotito 11y ago
  You would have shared publicly that you are revoking someones employment offer because you found them seeking career advice on a Q&A board?
  - bsder 11y ago
    This one is kind of tough. I'd like to think that I'd be better than the Zenefits CEO, but, man, this kid makes it really hard to take his side. First, it shows really poor judgment on the part of the junior engineer. Dear God, did you think that people can't identify you, specifically? It's not like Zenefits is giving out 10 job offers a day. Second, you're likely to jump as soon as you get the chance. Neither employer nor employee have any commitment to one another. Okay, fine. But, as an employer, will you completely leave me hanging at a critical time or will you stick a couple of months to complete your task before jumping. Given your lack of discretion, probably you'll leave me hanging. Third, are you going to air dirty laundry in public? Every company has some, even successful ones. Startups are worse. Again, lack of discretion. So, yeah, I'd rescind that offer very fast. He'll be lucky if Uber doesn't rescind his offer. I guarantee if I were HR at Uber I'd be trying to pick him out to rescind it. Would I air that publicly? Probably not. However, this kid should consider himself lucky that the CEO called him out publicly so he knows what he did wrong. If I were the CEO, I'd probably just rescind his offer without comment. I'd call Uber HR, and they'd rescind his offer without comment. And, he'd be wondering what the hell happened.
    - jsprogrammer 11y ago
      >But, as an employer, will you completely leave me hanging at a critical time or will you stick a couple of months to complete your task before jumping. And do you put out a handbook or other disclaimer stating that the employer and employee have zero obligation to each other and can terminate the relationship at any time?
      - bsder 11y ago
        Yes, but I generally also attempt to engage in professional courtesy. And, yes, this goes both ways. If I, as a boss, can see the writing on the wall, I will attempt to protect my employees. While that includes internal protection in a political firefight, it also includes calling up friends at other companies to see if they might have a job for people on my team if I can see that it's going to be ugly. I have also helped usher people out of my company because I simply couldn't get them what they were worth. It's called "being a professional". It's also called "this industry is damn small, don't piss off the good people in it." Sometimes you get caught completely unaware and get sacked without notice, but it's really rare. Most senior people can tell when things are about to get bad generally a month or two in advance--if not more.
- thrillgore 11y ago
  Really? I would have kept my mouth shut and not removed doubt about my foolery.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - gravity13 11y ago
    Why? To preserve my "image" with fickle internet communities full of judgmental people who give me a double standard because my name is known? This is why I'm glad I'm not famous...
    - jasonlotito 11y ago
      Smart people don't want to work for fools.

CardenB 11y ago

I get where you're coming from, but you have to realize, this guy is a new grad and he's probably pretty scared about which path to take because he doesn't understand the long term implications. He went to quota to discuss it with people and try to figure things out. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the guy was just trying to make the best decision for himself. The right thing would have been for the CEO to let the guy talk it out and come to the conclusion that Zenefits would be the best opportunity for him, not to attack him publicly for trying to figure out the best career path.

gravity13 11y ago
Disagree. Perhaps because I was never an entitled CS grad with the world vying for my attention? I was never scared about whether or not I'd make $120k or $400k. I just wanted to work on something I believed in and be a positive force in this world. "attack him publicly" - interesting choice of words there.