7y
Hi,
I would like to thank you for taking the time to write up a review on your candidate experience with us. Your negative review of your experience concerns me a bit since I am the one who initially created it and am constantly refining it so if you indulge me for a minute, I would like to address a few points in your review that might clarify a few things.
First, our process is very drawn out and does require extra steps for very good reason. We want to ensure that every candidate has every opportunity to learn about who we are and vice versa. We have under 10% turnover a year as a company and we want to keep it that way so we do ask a lot of our candidates in order to work here. The one page paper about company culture not only is an assignment to see your writing abilities (which are crucial to your success here) but also gives us a greater sense on how you plan to contribute to our culture which is a huge reason why we continue to thrive. The culture deck talks about a lot of cool things, but in some cases our culture is not for everyone so the piece that we make you write is to assess your willingness to subscribe to the culture.
Second, the personality test is a tool for us to measure your motivating drives and needs. It is meant to look at fit with the role and give us guidance on managing you. It also tells us if you would be successful in the role that you applied for based on current successful people at the agency. I would be more than happy to send you the assessment should you want insight. Feel free to contact me at andrew at trendlinei dot com.
Third, the formal application is necessary to advance you in the process so that when we do bring someone on, we have all of the information we need to do things like set up payroll, benefits and run background checks. Your statement of that your resume already has all of that information is simply not true as the application asks for things like your SSN, your previous places of employment with compensation as well as references and emergency information that we would need.
Fourth, I spoke with the individual that sent the wrong email to you and she feels absolutely horrible and has asked me to apologize for that mistake. Believe it or not, it was the first time she had ever made that mistake during the recruiting process It certainly was a mistake on her part but a bit unfair of you to judge us on it. We all make mistakes at some point in our lives
Fifth and most importantly, I am a bit disturbed by your characterization of how we view Millennials at Trendline. You simply could not be more wrong at that generalization and I hope you reconsider your opinion. Every interview we give is aimed at all generations and not meant to emphasize things like open vacation policy and free snacks as you suggest. It is meant to show the value and importance of being in an environment where we all support one another and our clients. I spent 20 years in corporate cultures and have learned quite a bit on what motivates people to do their best. The vacation policy and snacks are on the bottom of the motivational list for most. My question to you is….did you ask about other things in our culture or were you simply formulating your own opinion and seeing it from “your vantage point”? One thing we do pride ourselves on from a cultural aspect is that of giving back to those in need as well as the people that work here. As an organization we share profits...quarterly with everyone in the agency. As an organization we have flexible work situations. As an organization you have access to senior management as often as you want. As an organization we have a clear career path for the client services team of which you applied too. There are other tangible and intangible elements that make up our culture and they are not directed at any generation. In fact, while I don’t have the exact numbers, I can tell you that we have quite a bit of Millennials at Trendline and I encourage you to look them up on LinkedIn. When you make the statement that this is a very “hipster” place to work you could not be more wrong.
Lastly, you listed the questions that were asked of you, namely the “golden unicorn” question which you said was asked in a “Millennials like this kind of thing way. While I appreciate that interpretation of words are at an individual level, I think you need to re-examine why that question was asked. The other two questions that you mentioned in the review are asked of everyone to get a sense of humbleness and self awareness. If that meaning was lost on you, I apologize and perhaps I can do a better job explaining why they are asked.
To that end, I am again grateful for your feedback and I am sorry things didn’t work out with Trendline. I wish all the best in your career pursuits and hope you find a company that will give you what you want in terms of a career.
Andrew Kordek - Co-Founder, Trendline
