2022-01-28
Most interviews have a step called "The Sell". As the name suggests, the purpose is to sell the candidate on the opportunity — to convince them to join. Sometimes there are multiple sell rounds depending on the difficulty or seniority of the role. I do sells. But I also have a less common tactic and it's extremely effective.
It's called The Unsell Email.
Dun, dun, dun. Pan to the audience gasping.
Once I decide to extend an offer to someone, I send an email with ~10 bullet points that outline the gnarliest things they will discover about the role, company, and culture in their first 90 days on the job. Things that are difficult to get from the interview process (and frankly, most don't want to share). I made this example to help illustrate what I mean.
Why on Earth would you do that?!
I want them to really understand what they're getting into — the good, the bad, and the ugly. It seems counterintuitive and all my recruiting partners hate it.
Kevin! We just went through all that effort to get them to the finish line, why would you ruin it like that??
But it is one of the most effective tactics I have developed for hiring the right person for the right role.
How did this come about?
There was one role on my team that was a revolving door. Every person in that role was excellent in the interview process but red flags would appear within the first six months on the job. There was nothing wrong with the person — they were good product managers. But they realized they didn't want that specific role or that they were a different type of product manager. It took several mishires and a lot of reflection to understand what happened [1].
So I devised The Unsell Email to ensure the next person would understand the legacy baggage behind the role, the reasons others left the role, the challenges they will need to overcome, and the type of person who will enjoy it the most.
Holy cow! Doesn't that scare everyone off?
I lose about 30% of the candidates I send this to, and that's at the offer stage. It's painful. But way less painful than the year you would otherwise spend onboarding someone, only to have them leave [2, 3]. The people who make it past The Unsell Email are superb. They thrive in the role. They come in eyes wide open, hungry to tackle the challenges we discussed, confident in their fit for the role, and unafraid to ask difficult questions because they know I'll be honest with them. It leads to an incredibly powerful starting point for a relationship.
Should everyone send an Unsell Email?
No. This is not a silver bullet (nothing is). You need to figure out whether there are notable issues that repeatably surprise candidates after they join that impact tenure. If you happen to hire people who stay on your team for multiple years, happy as a duck, don't change a thing [4]. But if the idea of high attrition roles resonates, give it a shot.
[1] I spoke with everyone who left a role on one of my teams (regardless of whether I managed them directly or not). There were a few common themes that have informed the contents of my Unsell Emails.
[2] I realize that some people will feel like they don't have this luxury. They already feel like they're fighting to get every single new hire. That's fair. But the point you are missing is that it is still way more expensive to hire someone who leaves within a year than to wait for the right person. The time and effort that goes into onboarding (not to mention the impact on team morale) is incredibly large.
[3] You may be thinking that this sort of revolving door means that there is something wrong with the team or role. That the person isn't the problem, the environment is. And you'd be right! It's a system. So you likely need to change multiple parts.
[4] An interesting point to note is that people staying on a team for a long time isn't always a good sign. In the worst case, it could mean a devious manager that makes internal mobility very difficult. Hopefully your company has checks and balances in place for those types of issues.