Company Sends Full Onboarding Package to Rejected Candidate - Laptop Included
Picture this: You apply for a job. You interview. You wait. You receive a polite rejection email explaining they've "decided to move forward with other candidates." Disappointing, but you move on.
Three weeks later, a FedEx package arrives at your door. Inside: a brand new MacBook Pro, an employee ID badge with your photo, a welcome letter from your "new team," benefits enrollment forms, and detailed instructions for your first day—which is Monday.
This actually happened. And the candidate, understandably confused, decided to show up.
The Glitch Heard Round the HR Department
According to the company's internal post-mortem, which was later shared on a recruiting forum, the disaster unfolded like this:
The company used an integrated ATS and HRIS system with automated onboarding workflows. When a candidate's status changed to "Hired," the system automatically triggered equipment ordering, badge creation, benefits enrollment, and welcome communications. Efficient. Scalable. What could go wrong?
What went wrong: a system update introduced a bug where clicking "Reject" twice in quick succession (which recruiters apparently do when the interface lags) registered as "Reject" followed by "Move to Next Stage." For this particular candidate, "Next Stage" after final interview was... "Hired."
The recruiter had no idea. The automation ran silently in the background. Three weeks later, the candidate's onboarding package shipped.
Monday Morning Surprise
The candidate arrived at the office building at 8:45 AM, laptop bag in hand, employee badge clipped to their shirt. They checked in at reception, provided their name, and said they were starting today.
Reception looked them up. Found them in the system. Printed a visitor pass. Directed them to the 4th floor.
The candidate walked into the engineering department and introduced themselves to the person listed as their manager in the welcome email.
"Hi! I'm [Name]. I'm starting today on your team?"
The manager stared. "I'm sorry... who?"
"[Name]? I got my laptop, my badge, my benefits forms? I interviewed about a month ago?"
The manager's face went through five stages of grief in approximately three seconds. They excused themselves to make a phone call.
What followed was described by witnesses as "organized chaos". HR was called. The recruiting team was called. IT was called. Legal was called, because of course legal was called.
The Conversation No One Wanted to Have
The candidate was escorted to a conference room and offered coffee while the company figured out what to do. According to their Reddit post, an HR representative eventually entered looking "like they'd just witnessed a crime."
"So... there's been a system error," the HR rep began.
"A system error?"
"Yes. We... actually rejected you three weeks ago. The onboarding package was sent in error."
Silence.
"You rejected me. And then sent me a laptop."
"Correct."
"And a badge with my face on it."
"Yes."
"And told me to show up today."
"That part was the system, not us."
The candidate, to their credit, remained remarkably composed. "So what happens now? Do I give the laptop back?"
The Resolution
After extensive internal discussion—and consultation with legal—the company made an offer. Not THE job the candidate originally applied for (it was filled), but a similar role on a different team that happened to have an open headcount.
The candidate accepted. They kept the laptop. They started the following Monday—for real this time.
"Honestly, it's the weirdest way I've ever gotten a job," they posted later. "But the team is great, the work is interesting, and I have a story that will absolutely win any 'worst interview experience' competition forever."
The ATS bug was patched within 48 hours. The company implemented a 24-hour delay on all automated onboarding triggers with mandatory human review. And recruiters were explicitly trained to never, ever double-click the reject button.
Some mistakes create problems. This mistake created an employee. Sometimes the universe just works in mysterious ways.
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