Recruiting tips

Share WhatsApp's Story With The Candidates You Reject

You have probably heard the news – Silicon Valley startup WhatsApp just got bought by Facebook for the jaw-dropping sum of $19 billion dollars (I'll wait for you to do a double take…yes 19 billion).

Turns out work life wasn’t all roses and piles of dollar bills for one of the founders – Brian Acton.

Right before starting WhatsApp, he got rejected for a job by both Twitter and Facebook all in the span of 3 months:

Facebook turned me down. It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life's next adventure.

— Brian Acton (@brianacton) August 3, 2009

 

Got denied by Twitter HQ. That's ok. Would have been a long commute.

— Brian Acton (@brianacton) May 23, 2009

 

Next time you have a job candidate whom you have to reject…show them this story. There is no more inspiring way to demonstrate that they never know when a tough rejection can turn into the best thing in their careers. Or 19 billion dollars worth of best things.

And if you ever find yourself on the same side as Twitter and Facebook where you bypass incredible talent…chin up. Your rejection helped better humanity (or at least mobile messaging).

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