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Email me: agoliak at gmail.com
Writing samples
Explain in 3 paragraphs or less why a customer would pick Basecamp vs Highrise.
A company using our job board failed to find a suitable candidate and wants a refund. Respond that we don’t offer refunds for job postings.
A company using our job board failed to find a suitable candidate and wants a refund. Respond that we don’t offer refunds for job postings.
Hi Disgruntled Company - I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t find the right candidate. We don’t offer refunds for job postings, but maybe we can offer some assistance on your ad content? Can you give me a sense of why your job applicants weren’t right for the position? I can pull up your ad & see if anyone here has any suggestions to make your search more successful.
By the way, if you’re looking to hire a web designer, you might want to peruse the Sortfolio site. There’s a lot of talent on display there, and you might find someone you like.
Cheers,
AG
Some thoughts about this one...
This one was difficult to answer without more context. There’s a lot of issues that could have contributed to an unsuccessful search. Did the company offer an unrealistic salary? Were the skill requirements written by someone with little to no tech experience? Did the company ask for spec work, or something else that makes potential applicants wary? Was the job description unclear, or not reaching the right audience?
Any of these could be innocent mistakes, and it would be a service to the whole tech/design community to help this company develop realistic expectations of its geeks. Some friendly advice could benefit both the company, and anyone who goes to work for them.
But that’s only if they’re willing to listen. I‘ve had interactions with people who are looking for information that simply doesn’t exist. No matter how I explain it, I can’t convince people of something they don’t want to hear. And so I tell those people what I am able to do for them, and if it’s not something they’re interested in, I wish them luck in their search, and politely end the interaction.
The company might not take me up on the offer. They might just be writing to complain. And, of course, there’s a fine line between offering some advice & assistance, and doing their work for them. We’re very careful of that balance in my Library. Most likely, this is the kind of situation that wouldn’t be resolved with one email. I picture some back & forth with the customer.
I wouldn’t want to start off with the assumption that this company would be unwilling to listen to advice, which is why I’d start by offering some constructive feedback. Taking the time to do a small favor might mean future job postings, word of mouth advertisement, and overall loyalty to 37signals. And another member of my fan club!