treetree hired me away from another company in 2012. In order to "win" the position, I had three interviews and was asked to do a free conceptual project for them in a "contest" with their other top candidate. After all of that, I was offered the job.
They were a small team at the time. I am a single parent and the sole provider for my two children. Before accepting the offer, my main question to the CEO was "Is this a steady, reliable position?" My kids' livelihoods depended on it. I was assured multiple times by the CEO that this was a secure position, that they valued their employees, that I was the candidate they wanted, that I would be joining the treetree "family," etc, etc, etc. So, I left my steady job and put my trust in treetree.
I worked there for 3 days. At the end of the third day, I was called into the CEO's office and fired. The reasoning seemed very unclear. When I pressed for a reason, she cited a "widow" that I had left on a page (a word out of place in a document). When I pressed harder, they told me that I didn't work fast enough. As this was my first three days, I was just beginning to assimilate to the clients, projects, and work culture. I wasn't aware that I was being timed on my performance.
Maybe it's my fault for expecting a fair chance at a small agency I knew very little about, but the current CEO was particularly callous toward me throughout this process. She offered me two weeks' pay as a severance but didn't file any of my paperwork, so that it looked as if I had never worked there. When I asked her to have coffee the following week to go over what had happened and see if there was anything I could do for them on a freelance basis until I found another position, but she simply told me that "agencies change their minds all the time" and she was "so sorry" for me, although her face and body language seemed condescending and not very sorry. For a CEO who's public image is very much built upon caring about others and "doing the right thing," she seemed to care very little that her careless hiring decision had put a single mother with two small children out of work.
I have since gone on to have a very successful career at companies much larger than treetree, so being fired from that place ended up being a blessing in disguise. However, I will never forget the terrible and irresponsible way that the CEO treated me early in my career, and when other creatives ask me for my advice on joining the company, I simply answer with "I can't recommend it."
