What I'm about to say is my personal opinion, it is not a jab at Order Desk but a heads-up to hopeful applicants and perhaps my personal belief on how the process can be improved.
I applied to Order Desk on January 2026, filling out their lengthy Application form (which I genuinely enjoyed). It took me around an hour and a half but it was truly fun for me. A week later, I received a PASS onto the next round of follow up questions. This one took me around 3-4 hours as I had to research multiple guides and forums, but I enjoyed it as well. Around 10 days later, I received a rejection email. Here is my feedback:
- Rejection email: As someone else mentioned here, for a company that focuses and cares so much about individuality, using your own voice, and rejects AI and macros it was truly disheartening when I asked for feedback as to why I fell short and I received a clearly generic, canned, and vague email 2 minutes later. I asked a couple of questions in my reply, and it was very clear my reply wasn't even read.
- Process: In the initial application, you had listed the following phrase: "Research has shown that women and people of color disproportionately do not apply for jobs where they do not meet 100% of the “requirements.”
Regardless of whether you identify with any of these groups, if you meet most of the technical requirements and this role aligns with your career goals, we encourage you to bet on yourself and apply!". For 3 weeks, this phrase kept me hopeful, it was the reason I applied and why I was checking my inbox almost hourly for 3 weeks. This exact phrase not being true is why I believe I fell short. I admit that while I posses the needed knowledge, skills, adaptability, and passion for the role, I fall short when it comes to experience. Reading this phrase is why I applied, and knowing this phrase not being true is why I was rejected truly hurts. As a company, you can not have strict requirements while also trying to be THAT friendly. This phrase gives people hope, when you yourself know if someone who meets all requirements applies, and someone who only meets some applies, you will go with the former.
That being said, I do not regret applying. It was an enjoyable journey for me, full of learning. I enjoyed getting to know Order Desk and how their culture works, I thought I was perfect for it and it is disappointing I was wrong, but this is the job market. Thank you to the team for their time and I hope my feedback is taken with a warm heart, as I believe your culture and what you've built there is outstanding, it only needs a bit refinement as it gives un-needed hope in areas it shouldn't.
