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CEO Revokes Offer After Candidate Asks The Internet If He Should Take The Job

For all of you who may have had a candidate waver between two job offers and couldn't quite make up his/her mind, this may be quite the story.

Last week, an anonymous software engineer was offered two jobs from two San Francisco-based tech companies, Zenefits and Uber.

Unsure of which one to pick, the engineer reached out others for input via Quora, a web community where people ask and answer questions. The engineer said although Zenefits was offering him more, wanted him more and he liked the team more, Uber was more of a “buzzword” company that would help him land a job at Google or Apple, his eventual goal.

His take on Zenefits:

Zenefits-2

His take on Uber:

Uber-pros-cons

Parker Conrad, the CEO of Zenefits, saw the post on Quora and provided his own advice to the anonymous engineer – take the Uber job, as he was revoking his offer. Conrad said that if the engineer really wants to work at Google or Apple, he should apply at Google or Apple.

Additionally, he wrote that he values people who are decisive and action-orientated, and someone who is debating where to work on Quora is neither. He added that his company doesn’t have high regard for people who chose where to work based off of buzzwords, instead preferring people who pick jobs based off the challenge or the opportunity.

The beginning of his post:

ZeneitsCEO

A member of Uber’s communications team, Mark Rogowsky, weighed in as well, although he had a very different take on the matter. Rogowsky said the engineer should take the job at Uber, and then listed the reasons why Uber is a great place to work.

The beginning of his post:

UbcerCEO

Who was right?

Uber and Zenefits took the exact opposite approach to the same question. Zenefits basically said they are looking for people who buy into their cause, whereas Uber used it as an opportunity to talk about what a great company they are to work for.

Which approach do you agree with, Zenefits or Uber? Have you been in a similar situation? Let us know via Twitter at @HireOnLinkedIn.

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