This is a true story of what happened to a friend of mine at a large well-known technology company…

A few years ago, a friend of mine really wanted to work at a particular technology company that he though was producing some really amazing products. He just knew he wanted to work there. (and, for the record, this guy is incredibly talented) He tried to get a job the old fashioned way (sending his resume to HR), but he was getting no luck (this was a few years back when jobs were scarce).

So he used guerilla tactics to further his job quest. He started asking everyone he knew if they knew someone at this particular firm. Soon he had networked with dozens of people from this company.

He also started a blog called “I-Want-to-work-at-CompanyName.com”
The blog became a HUGE hit inside the company. He detailed his quest to work there, his interviews, his process, and more.

Finally, a few months later, he got his dream job at the company. You can imagine how happy he was. He got his dream job at his dream company … and he quickly became one of the most motivated employees there … Working long hours, dedicating himself to the mission of the company, and being a well-known A-player.

He got on a cool project that had a lot of promise. The CEO of the company said this particular project was the most important for the company … And my friend was psyched to be where the action was. The project took a couple of years to complete and was a technical success but did not do as well as expected in the market (it was a modest success). So, after much deliberation, the company decided to kill some of the new developments and fire many of the people from the team.

My friend was on the lay-off list.

You can imagine how distraught he was when the company he poured his soul into just fired him (though at least he got three months severance).

But the story continues … Two weeks later my same friends gets hired back at the same company. Yes, unbelievable. He got hired on a new project in a different part of the company … And he got a big promotion and salary increase.

So after he came back from a paid three-month vacation where he traveled around Asia, he started thinking “why was I laid-off in the first place??” this company somehow turned one of their most dedicated employees into a mercenary — he know longer deeply cares about the company because he realizes the company no longer cares for him.

A case study on how not to treat your employees …