For Mailchimp’s recruiting team, nothing’s sweeter than calling up an awesome candidate and offering them an awesome job. We get to know all of our candidates through our sourcing and interviewing process, so when we make that call it feels like delivering great news to a friend. And when they accept our offer, we celebrate too, because it means we’ve got one more amazing colleague!
But no matter how enthusiastic the candidate’s “yes!” may be, there’s often a bit of a lull between their acceptance and their start date. So last year, we started wondering how we could extend that initial excitement a little bit longer.
We talked with Mailchimp’s creative team and decided to develop an “offer kit” for all new hires. Our designers worked up a sweet sampling of Mailchimp swag: t-shirts, stickers, and buttons. We send out a kit to every candidate after they verbally accept their Mailchimp offer. It’s a fun surprise that helps them feel like part of the company before their first day.
But here’s my favorite part. In each of these offer kits, we also include a little card that says, “Will you be my coworker?” We throw in a stamped return envelope, too. Candidates don’t have to send it back in, but most do—and many go above and beyond in crafting their reply.
Mailchimp’s company culture is proudly weird, and our recruiters know how important it is to hire folks who’ll complement our quirks while helping the company grow bigger and stronger. So we just love getting replies like this—they tell us we’re doing something right.
For a while, we kept all the cards in a big bowl on our team coffee table. But when the bowl began to runneth over, we decided to safety-pin all the cards together and hang them up next to our workspace. Our facilities team later gave us a slightly less-janky upgrade.
We’re about to run out of room on the current wall, which is an exciting problem to have. When I look at that wall, I feel so proud of our recruiting team and their tireless commitment to helping Mailchimp grow by hiring the best people. But I’m even prouder to walk the halls of our office and see all the folks who’ve said “yes!” working hard, thriving, and contributing to our culture every day. If you want to join us, we’re always hiring.