1) It's possible (however unlikely?) you weren't the only candidate to mention the idea
2) I sometimes ask candidates how they would handle tricky dilemmas I face; yeah, it's free consulting in a way but it really helps you see how the candidate thinks. If the candidate can't tell you something you don't know, why are you hiring them? But the ability to answer that question well may not be the only skill or the most important one for the job; maybe they were indexing more on another skillset than that idea itself and its execution for the role they were hiring. This is just part of interviewing candidly. I think you are better off showing your expertise than hiding it.
3) Hindsight is 20-20; if you hadn't mentioned the idea, you still wouldn't have gotten the job. You took a risk to tell them and it didn't pay off, but you didn't get harmed. I agree it does seem unfair/unjust, but this is a little bit of the nature of ideas. If you want an acknowledgement/thank-you, I would circle back to the CTO and say "hey, I saw you ended up hiring someone else, but you did seem to like one of the ideas I mentioned (xyz) since it looks like you all are pursuing that... can you give me any feedback on what I could have done better in the interview?" That will give him a face-saving way to acknowledge your perception or refute it without you accusing him/her outright without direct evidence or threatening him... You might still not get an answer... but you might get a better sense of what happened, from the ensuing admission or the ensuing stonewalling/denial or failure to answer.
This is a great answer. Don’t assume without all the info; the real story may be more complicated… maybe the interviewer was playing dumb? Phrase in a way that isn’t accusatory or assuming in the slightest (maybe ‘cool approach I see… I really enjoyed the great convo we had about a similar approach…’)
This is a mature way to handle the situation and potentially a conversation re-starter, probably not to the current position but perhaps to a connection in the industry.
Ignore all the gaslighters telling you maybe the company didn't steal your idea and some fantasy happened where they thought about it themselves. They didn't.
If it was me and I had proof I would send an invoice and then sue if not paid. If I didn't have proof I would just write about it and share everywhere. When I was younger and more naive I also accepted it and moved on. That's also an option.
Whatever you do, be very very careful from now on. Job interviews and hiring changed, it's all about power and self-preservation now. The people doing the hiring will rob and destroy you if it makes them look good to their bosses.
A couple things in this story make me think that we don't have enough information to know whether or not it is a big deal:
1) It is the CTO who had not thought of the growth idea, not the person in charge of sales/marketing/growth. So it might not have been so novel after all had OP been talking to the people who really would have used it. Likewise, because it was a non-technical topic, it may not have been relevant to what the actual role being hired for was. Would you hire an engineer based on a good idea completely unrelated to their potential role?
2) It is possible that the company did not intend to steal an idea but were handed one anyway. Based on the post, we don't even know if the interviewer asked for the idea, or if OP volunteered it. What are they supposed to do? Are they expected to say, "Well, we have this great idea in front of us that can triple our growth, and yes it came about through a valid internal process, but not the marketing team, so we should not use it."
3) Unless the interview put OP and the company on bad terms somehow, there is nothing stopping them from dropping the CTO a line and saying - "Looks familiar - did some of that come from our conversation?" and see where that goes.
So yes, some type of recognition might be appropriate if it was a novel idea that truly came from this specific interview, but we have no way of knowing whether or not that is true, at least not unless OP tells us more.
Realistically the best thing you can do is let it go and have the satisfaction you were right. No interview is perfect, there are false positive and negative hires. Don’t take it personally.
This is what I'm thinking. I have no realistic way of proving it. Like in no way would I want to work in a culture like that. It just feels kinda slimy. Like "your ideas are valuable, but you're not."
It's entirely possible they liked your idea but didn't think you were a good fit for other reasons. Or they found someone else who is a better fit. Or someone else had the same idea.
I don't think they should be obliged to hire you just because you had this one idea that helped them.
It's possible they were not interviewing you in good faith, but just wanted free advice. But that's impossible to prove, and several other explanations that don't require bad faith are entirely plausible.
No! This attitude is why we’re moving to a low trust situation in the modern world: because no one holds any morals and values beyond “get what’s yours”. People shouldn’t treat other people like this!
Yeah the best you could do is devote your entire life to hurting them specifically: find out their customers, undercut their service fees. Poach their employees. Use software tools to overwhelm their hiring process with ruses. Get into their supply chain and increase their costs. Find out where the high level executives get their vices and disrupt them.
But would be a total psycho with an exhausting life for most people... So best to just learn that ideas are a dime a dozen, dont give them out for free if they are good
If they were actually impressed by you, they would've probably hired you. If you can come up with a 3X MAU strategy in a single interview, then of course they'd want to hire you. Imagine what you could do in a single month!
Chances are some other part of the interview went wrong in a way you didn't recognize, and perhaps the same idea also was raised internally or by another candidate.
Not everything suspicious has a bad explanation. Sometimes reality is simpler.
Going to have to take a course in sales psychology, we are selling ourselves afterall
Copy paste:
Social Proof: Use the opinions and experiences of others to influence a customer’s decision. This creates a sense of trust and familiarity.
Reciprocity: Give something valuable to the customer in exchange for their attention or consideration. This sets the stage for a positive interaction and creates a sense of obligation.
Limited Availability: Create a sense of scarcity by limiting the availability of a product or offer. This can trigger FOMO (fear of missing out) and encourage customers to make a purchase.
Curiosity: Use curiosity to motivate customers by creating an “itch” that they need to scratch. This can be achieved by asking questions or providing valuable information that requires further exploration.
Storytelling: Use narratives to connect with customers on an emotional level and make your product or service more relatable.
Expertise: Showcase credentials, industry knowledge, or relevant experience to position yourself as an authority and build credibility with potential customers.
Emotional Triggers: Tap into customers’ emotions by using language and imagery that resonates with their desires, needs, and values.
Loss Aversion: Highlight the potential losses or consequences of not taking action, rather than just emphasizing the benefits of your product or service.
Scarcity Mindset: Play off the idea that a product or offer is in high demand and may run out soon, encouraging customers to make a purchase quickly.
Active Listening: Demonstrate empathy and understanding by actively listening to customers’ concerns and addressing them directly.
Consistency: Consistently deliver value and follow through on commitments to build trust and credibility with customers.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Create a sense of urgency by highlighting limited-time offers or promotions, encouraging customers to take action before they miss out.
It would be hard to reach out and not have it come across as you thinking they stole the idea and/or you are bitter about not being hired. If you think you can do that in a “hey hit me up as a consultant or if you have any more open roles” type of way then maybe a casual message to the CTO.
Did they actually hire someone for that role? Is it possible their growth strategy isn’t based on the idea but is something else? Do they have competitors that might also be interested in this vague idea? edit: I assume you didn’t sign an NDA for an interview.
Honestly, you will never truly know if they stole your idea, someone else at the company came up with it in parallel, or the scenario I’ve found to be most common with these things: they forgot it in the moment, then were brainstorming in a meeting later and the idea bubbled up in their mind without attribution as if it was their own, and they promptly latched on to it as proof of their own genius ;)
It stings, but unless you have standing and are prepared for the pain of a litigious stance, just take it as a compliment that the idea you came up with had merit and move on. Being possessive of your ideas is a recipe for misery, whether it’s morally justified or not. Reaching out to the company is unlikely to bear fruit if they’ve expressed no desire to have a relationship with you. C’est la vie.
Ask them if they want you to consult for $50k/w. Tell them you have more ideas, and you are looking at different companies to consult for. Would they be interested or should I talk to their competitor?
I'd say build the relationship. Remind them (politely) that they implemented the idea "you discussed in the interview". Don't suggest they stole it. I'd think this is an opportunity for you to find out how it went/how it's going, decisions they made along the way, etc.
You'll always know this was your idea, but it's just an idea. You'll have many others, probably better ones.
This start-up might still fail. If they fail, would you be thinking "they had my great marketing idea and they failed". If they succeed, do you really think it would be because of your idea?
I wish I had this amount of distance from my own ideas, but I know I don't. It's much easier when looking at someone else's ideas.
But all in all, I'd say this is an opportunity to find out more, and maybe even come up with another idea based on the discussion you have with the company.
It's up to you if you decide to share that further idea or not ;)
> Remind them (politely) that they implemented the idea "you discussed in the interview".
This would be very high on the list of emails I would never respond to.
This is a person either a) with a job they don’t like or b) no job. Either way they have nothing better to do than email and hint at the fact that I stole their idea.
I didn’t want to hire them in the first place, not sure how this changes things.
There’s no need for back and forth here. Both parties should just move on with their lives.
If there is no NDA you are likely SOL. In the world of IP that would be voluntary disclosure of a trade secret.
In JavaScript land you never have to worry about anything like this, because everyone immediately disavows trust in any idea the moment they meet the developer behind it.
I had a long response, but it came across as preachy so I canned it.
The short of it is, as you gain real world experience you will realize that the world is filled with looters and thieves, and its up to you to figure out who they are and control your interactions with them so you come out on top. A large part of this is knowing when and when not to share.
It is entirely possible to do this, without being a slimeball. Take a measured approach, set up situations and observe closely. What people do in small things, they do in large things, and evil is most characterized in willful blindness.
You shouldn't be trying to differentiate yourself like this in an interview anyway.
Companies are looking for workers, and the rational creative problem solver people tend to be targeted by psychology profiling and discriminated against at the hiring stage; despite them providing unimaginable value, its a top down problem starting with hiring. AI also is a problem since it allows a new age for employers to bypass anti-discrimination laws based on protected classes.
To understand why these things have been happening and worsening, you need to go into the history of how and why business has changed since the 1960s. Its far too much for a single post, but there are reasons why this happened; largely as a progression from constitutional money to fiat debt and various mechanisms of sieving markets into fewer and fewer hands over time (ponzi).
The failures align with the same failures with any bureaucracy and no one covers this better than Mises (written 1930s).
These type of things will be getting much worse in the near future, so you will need to guard the products of your mind more carefully. Familiarize yourself with the Laws of Power (Greene), learn why these things happen, and prepare.
There may come a time in the near future where you'll have to bootstrap your own grid, and physically defend yourself but until that time, do what you need to and become self-sufficient and mature (by learning about important things like social contract theory/economics and other skills that will improve your ability to forecast).
Loyalty is misplaced in any business today, and trust is gone as the pillars of society fall to ruin.
Never provide your best work starting out, don't mention an idea unless it has a number of subtle pitfalls, understand the business growth cycle (and how its often another form of ponzi through preferential loans), and choose well.
In IT people used to joke about automating themselves out of a job (and how there will always be other problems to solve). We can see now where this mentality led, to 7% unemployment in tech (during peak hiring), where the national average is 1.5%.
Experienced people know the importance to semi-automate, and to also never make anything that will run and provide value for longer than a month without some direct input from them. You don't provide your best unless you are getting paid proportionally for the value.
Letting it go is the simplest thing that might work.
There are a lot of alternatives of course. Many of them will suggest not hiring you dodged a bullet.
Also there is a difference between not acknowledging they implemented your idea and not remembering they did. Acknowledgement would have involved a somewhat awkward conversation seeing as you weren’t hired…
…this time. Maybe they reach out in the future. Maybe you run into the CTO in another context…and it would perhaps be productive to add the CTO to your professional network. The future contains everything positive that might happen and the what’s past is done.
Find the manager of the people who interviewed you, explain it was your idea and your methodology of coming up with it. How would you even know the intricate details as an outsider? Give him a color printout with some fancy graphics if you're daring. Explain that this sort of reasoning comes from institutional knowledge you possess, which is the real asset that made this sort of optimization possible.
What's the worst that can happen? He tells you to fuck off? I know this isn't the movies, but I can't help but think; not an awful lot to lose in this situation...
It was the CTO. The methodology for it involves a background in genetics which they don't have. I just want a thank you. I've had product discussions before, but this has obviously never happened.
Get a new idea. Ideas are cheap. If you had one good idea, you’ll have another.
Plus your idea’s probably not as unique as you thought it was and they might’ve been working on it already. Maybe another candidate mentioned it and it got stolen from them first.
so they had a free consultancy session with an expert you say? maybe more...im not surprised, the hiring process in IT is broken, and i blame HR for this
I kinda feel like an idiot. But, I genuinely thought I was going to get the job. This is my passion, and I love talking about it. I just didn't think anyone would care.
Plus it's infuriating because I didn't get the job because I didn't know how to solve some random DP problem...
Not sure if you're aware but it's not that uncommon for people to be interviewed when someone else already has the job, or they don't actually end up hiring. Maybe someone internal got the role and they still interviewed to meet HR requirements. So even if you did "the best interview ever" you're not guaranteed to get the job.
I remember going for an interview in London at the start of my career and all the candidates were in a room together beforehand talking and doing some group exercises. One of the candidates parents was best friends with the interviewer and knew several of the team and they weren't too shy about talking about it. It was pretty obvious she'd be the one getting the job!
A few things to keep in mind:
1) It's possible (however unlikely?) you weren't the only candidate to mention the idea
2) I sometimes ask candidates how they would handle tricky dilemmas I face; yeah, it's free consulting in a way but it really helps you see how the candidate thinks. If the candidate can't tell you something you don't know, why are you hiring them? But the ability to answer that question well may not be the only skill or the most important one for the job; maybe they were indexing more on another skillset than that idea itself and its execution for the role they were hiring. This is just part of interviewing candidly. I think you are better off showing your expertise than hiding it.
3) Hindsight is 20-20; if you hadn't mentioned the idea, you still wouldn't have gotten the job. You took a risk to tell them and it didn't pay off, but you didn't get harmed. I agree it does seem unfair/unjust, but this is a little bit of the nature of ideas. If you want an acknowledgement/thank-you, I would circle back to the CTO and say "hey, I saw you ended up hiring someone else, but you did seem to like one of the ideas I mentioned (xyz) since it looks like you all are pursuing that... can you give me any feedback on what I could have done better in the interview?" That will give him a face-saving way to acknowledge your perception or refute it without you accusing him/her outright without direct evidence or threatening him... You might still not get an answer... but you might get a better sense of what happened, from the ensuing admission or the ensuing stonewalling/denial or failure to answer.
> If the candidate can't tell you something you don't know, why are you hiring them?
Because you have work that needs to get done.
> If the candidate can't tell you something you don't know, why are you hiring them?
There's only so much time in a day.
Also, if they know better, perhaps they should hire me? Speaking as devil's advocate, of course.
This is a great answer. Don’t assume without all the info; the real story may be more complicated… maybe the interviewer was playing dumb? Phrase in a way that isn’t accusatory or assuming in the slightest (maybe ‘cool approach I see… I really enjoyed the great convo we had about a similar approach…’)
This is a mature way to handle the situation and potentially a conversation re-starter, probably not to the current position but perhaps to a connection in the industry.
Public shaming always works and also makes other people aware.
This is called brewdogging, named after a similar public shaming:
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brewdogging
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/brewdog-...
Or brain rape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlwwVuSUUfc
Or getting free labour out of job candidates: https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/companies-are-using-job-c...
Ignore all the gaslighters telling you maybe the company didn't steal your idea and some fantasy happened where they thought about it themselves. They didn't.
If it was me and I had proof I would send an invoice and then sue if not paid. If I didn't have proof I would just write about it and share everywhere. When I was younger and more naive I also accepted it and moved on. That's also an option.
Whatever you do, be very very careful from now on. Job interviews and hiring changed, it's all about power and self-preservation now. The people doing the hiring will rob and destroy you if it makes them look good to their bosses.
> During the interview with the CTO I proposed a way that could effectively 3X their MAU.
Never give free ideas away during an interview.
A couple things in this story make me think that we don't have enough information to know whether or not it is a big deal:
1) It is the CTO who had not thought of the growth idea, not the person in charge of sales/marketing/growth. So it might not have been so novel after all had OP been talking to the people who really would have used it. Likewise, because it was a non-technical topic, it may not have been relevant to what the actual role being hired for was. Would you hire an engineer based on a good idea completely unrelated to their potential role?
2) It is possible that the company did not intend to steal an idea but were handed one anyway. Based on the post, we don't even know if the interviewer asked for the idea, or if OP volunteered it. What are they supposed to do? Are they expected to say, "Well, we have this great idea in front of us that can triple our growth, and yes it came about through a valid internal process, but not the marketing team, so we should not use it."
3) Unless the interview put OP and the company on bad terms somehow, there is nothing stopping them from dropping the CTO a line and saying - "Looks familiar - did some of that come from our conversation?" and see where that goes.
So yes, some type of recognition might be appropriate if it was a novel idea that truly came from this specific interview, but we have no way of knowing whether or not that is true, at least not unless OP tells us more.
Realistically the best thing you can do is let it go and have the satisfaction you were right. No interview is perfect, there are false positive and negative hires. Don’t take it personally.
This is what I'm thinking. I have no realistic way of proving it. Like in no way would I want to work in a culture like that. It just feels kinda slimy. Like "your ideas are valuable, but you're not."
It's entirely possible they liked your idea but didn't think you were a good fit for other reasons. Or they found someone else who is a better fit. Or someone else had the same idea.
I don't think they should be obliged to hire you just because you had this one idea that helped them.
It's possible they were not interviewing you in good faith, but just wanted free advice. But that's impossible to prove, and several other explanations that don't require bad faith are entirely plausible.
Why slimy? They asked a question and you answered without charging for it. It's not their fault.
No! This attitude is why we’re moving to a low trust situation in the modern world: because no one holds any morals and values beyond “get what’s yours”. People shouldn’t treat other people like this!
Name and shame them, OP.
Yeah the best you could do is devote your entire life to hurting them specifically: find out their customers, undercut their service fees. Poach their employees. Use software tools to overwhelm their hiring process with ruses. Get into their supply chain and increase their costs. Find out where the high level executives get their vices and disrupt them.
But would be a total psycho with an exhausting life for most people... So best to just learn that ideas are a dime a dozen, dont give them out for free if they are good
Ah, the old “Count of Monte Cristo” strategy.
Idk I at least would've taken a "thank you for the idea". It's medical related so like I'm happy that I can help people. But, at least say thank you.
Obviously they cant do that. Would be inviting a lawsuit.
Rule of Acquisition #3: Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
If they were actually impressed by you, they would've probably hired you. If you can come up with a 3X MAU strategy in a single interview, then of course they'd want to hire you. Imagine what you could do in a single month!
Chances are some other part of the interview went wrong in a way you didn't recognize, and perhaps the same idea also was raised internally or by another candidate.
Not everything suspicious has a bad explanation. Sometimes reality is simpler.
Going to have to take a course in sales psychology, we are selling ourselves afterall
Copy paste:
Social Proof: Use the opinions and experiences of others to influence a customer’s decision. This creates a sense of trust and familiarity.
Reciprocity: Give something valuable to the customer in exchange for their attention or consideration. This sets the stage for a positive interaction and creates a sense of obligation.
Limited Availability: Create a sense of scarcity by limiting the availability of a product or offer. This can trigger FOMO (fear of missing out) and encourage customers to make a purchase.
Curiosity: Use curiosity to motivate customers by creating an “itch” that they need to scratch. This can be achieved by asking questions or providing valuable information that requires further exploration.
Storytelling: Use narratives to connect with customers on an emotional level and make your product or service more relatable.
Expertise: Showcase credentials, industry knowledge, or relevant experience to position yourself as an authority and build credibility with potential customers. Emotional Triggers: Tap into customers’ emotions by using language and imagery that resonates with their desires, needs, and values.
Loss Aversion: Highlight the potential losses or consequences of not taking action, rather than just emphasizing the benefits of your product or service. Scarcity Mindset: Play off the idea that a product or offer is in high demand and may run out soon, encouraging customers to make a purchase quickly.
Active Listening: Demonstrate empathy and understanding by actively listening to customers’ concerns and addressing them directly. Consistency: Consistently deliver value and follow through on commitments to build trust and credibility with customers.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Create a sense of urgency by highlighting limited-time offers or promotions, encouraging customers to take action before they miss out.
It would be hard to reach out and not have it come across as you thinking they stole the idea and/or you are bitter about not being hired. If you think you can do that in a “hey hit me up as a consultant or if you have any more open roles” type of way then maybe a casual message to the CTO.
Did they actually hire someone for that role? Is it possible their growth strategy isn’t based on the idea but is something else? Do they have competitors that might also be interested in this vague idea? edit: I assume you didn’t sign an NDA for an interview.
Honestly, you will never truly know if they stole your idea, someone else at the company came up with it in parallel, or the scenario I’ve found to be most common with these things: they forgot it in the moment, then were brainstorming in a meeting later and the idea bubbled up in their mind without attribution as if it was their own, and they promptly latched on to it as proof of their own genius ;)
It stings, but unless you have standing and are prepared for the pain of a litigious stance, just take it as a compliment that the idea you came up with had merit and move on. Being possessive of your ideas is a recipe for misery, whether it’s morally justified or not. Reaching out to the company is unlikely to bear fruit if they’ve expressed no desire to have a relationship with you. C’est la vie.
Ask them if they want you to consult for $50k/w. Tell them you have more ideas, and you are looking at different companies to consult for. Would they be interested or should I talk to their competitor?
Did you look up who ended up getting the role and implementing your idea?
I'd say build the relationship. Remind them (politely) that they implemented the idea "you discussed in the interview". Don't suggest they stole it. I'd think this is an opportunity for you to find out how it went/how it's going, decisions they made along the way, etc.
You'll always know this was your idea, but it's just an idea. You'll have many others, probably better ones.
This start-up might still fail. If they fail, would you be thinking "they had my great marketing idea and they failed". If they succeed, do you really think it would be because of your idea?
I wish I had this amount of distance from my own ideas, but I know I don't. It's much easier when looking at someone else's ideas.
But all in all, I'd say this is an opportunity to find out more, and maybe even come up with another idea based on the discussion you have with the company. It's up to you if you decide to share that further idea or not ;)
> Remind them (politely) that they implemented the idea "you discussed in the interview".
This would be very high on the list of emails I would never respond to.
This is a person either a) with a job they don’t like or b) no job. Either way they have nothing better to do than email and hint at the fact that I stole their idea.
I didn’t want to hire them in the first place, not sure how this changes things.
There’s no need for back and forth here. Both parties should just move on with their lives.
Start your own business. Stop being bitter. Show the world what's inside you!
If there is no NDA you are likely SOL. In the world of IP that would be voluntary disclosure of a trade secret.
In JavaScript land you never have to worry about anything like this, because everyone immediately disavows trust in any idea the moment they meet the developer behind it.
I had a long response, but it came across as preachy so I canned it.
The short of it is, as you gain real world experience you will realize that the world is filled with looters and thieves, and its up to you to figure out who they are and control your interactions with them so you come out on top. A large part of this is knowing when and when not to share.
It is entirely possible to do this, without being a slimeball. Take a measured approach, set up situations and observe closely. What people do in small things, they do in large things, and evil is most characterized in willful blindness.
You shouldn't be trying to differentiate yourself like this in an interview anyway.
Companies are looking for workers, and the rational creative problem solver people tend to be targeted by psychology profiling and discriminated against at the hiring stage; despite them providing unimaginable value, its a top down problem starting with hiring. AI also is a problem since it allows a new age for employers to bypass anti-discrimination laws based on protected classes.
To understand why these things have been happening and worsening, you need to go into the history of how and why business has changed since the 1960s. Its far too much for a single post, but there are reasons why this happened; largely as a progression from constitutional money to fiat debt and various mechanisms of sieving markets into fewer and fewer hands over time (ponzi).
The failures align with the same failures with any bureaucracy and no one covers this better than Mises (written 1930s).
These type of things will be getting much worse in the near future, so you will need to guard the products of your mind more carefully. Familiarize yourself with the Laws of Power (Greene), learn why these things happen, and prepare.
There may come a time in the near future where you'll have to bootstrap your own grid, and physically defend yourself but until that time, do what you need to and become self-sufficient and mature (by learning about important things like social contract theory/economics and other skills that will improve your ability to forecast).
Loyalty is misplaced in any business today, and trust is gone as the pillars of society fall to ruin.
Never provide your best work starting out, don't mention an idea unless it has a number of subtle pitfalls, understand the business growth cycle (and how its often another form of ponzi through preferential loans), and choose well.
In IT people used to joke about automating themselves out of a job (and how there will always be other problems to solve). We can see now where this mentality led, to 7% unemployment in tech (during peak hiring), where the national average is 1.5%.
Experienced people know the importance to semi-automate, and to also never make anything that will run and provide value for longer than a month without some direct input from them. You don't provide your best unless you are getting paid proportionally for the value.
So it goes.
is there issues with doing NDA's before pitch decking? is it uncouth? standard procedure?
Is there anything I can do?
Letting it go is the simplest thing that might work.
There are a lot of alternatives of course. Many of them will suggest not hiring you dodged a bullet.
Also there is a difference between not acknowledging they implemented your idea and not remembering they did. Acknowledgement would have involved a somewhat awkward conversation seeing as you weren’t hired…
…this time. Maybe they reach out in the future. Maybe you run into the CTO in another context…and it would perhaps be productive to add the CTO to your professional network. The future contains everything positive that might happen and the what’s past is done.
It sucks not to get a job. Good luck.
Find the manager of the people who interviewed you, explain it was your idea and your methodology of coming up with it. How would you even know the intricate details as an outsider? Give him a color printout with some fancy graphics if you're daring. Explain that this sort of reasoning comes from institutional knowledge you possess, which is the real asset that made this sort of optimization possible.
What's the worst that can happen? He tells you to fuck off? I know this isn't the movies, but I can't help but think; not an awful lot to lose in this situation...
It was the CTO. The methodology for it involves a background in genetics which they don't have. I just want a thank you. I've had product discussions before, but this has obviously never happened.
IMO the fastest path to a thank you is a sincere, neutral congratulations.
Get a new idea. Ideas are cheap. If you had one good idea, you’ll have another.
Plus your idea’s probably not as unique as you thought it was and they might’ve been working on it already. Maybe another candidate mentioned it and it got stolen from them first.
Move on with your life. Or don’t. Your call.
so they had a free consultancy session with an expert you say? maybe more...im not surprised, the hiring process in IT is broken, and i blame HR for this
I kinda feel like an idiot. But, I genuinely thought I was going to get the job. This is my passion, and I love talking about it. I just didn't think anyone would care.
Plus it's infuriating because I didn't get the job because I didn't know how to solve some random DP problem...
Not sure if you're aware but it's not that uncommon for people to be interviewed when someone else already has the job, or they don't actually end up hiring. Maybe someone internal got the role and they still interviewed to meet HR requirements. So even if you did "the best interview ever" you're not guaranteed to get the job.
I remember going for an interview in London at the start of my career and all the candidates were in a room together beforehand talking and doing some group exercises. One of the candidates parents was best friends with the interviewer and knew several of the team and they weren't too shy about talking about it. It was pretty obvious she'd be the one getting the job!
Send them a very large invoice for consulting with a letter attached explaining why.