INTERNAL MEMO: Introducing the Candidate Content Unlocking Protocol (CCUP)

TO

All Hiring Managers, Cromulent AI

FROM

Talent Innovation & Gamification Division

RE

Candidate Content Unlocking Protocol (CCUP) — Pilot Launch

Effective Q3 2026, Cromulent AI will implement the Candidate Content Unlocking Protocol (CCUP) across all open roles. The protocol replaces traditional resume submissions with a progressive-disclosure model that research shows increases hiring-manager intrigue by up to 340%.

HOW IT WORKS:

Tier 1 — Basic Profile (Free)

Candidates submit a name, a partial headshot, and a generic career objective. The remainder of their qualifications, experience, and contact information is locked behind a series of gates.

Tier 2 — Skills Reveal (1 Interview Round + Culture Fit Quiz)

Upon completing one screening interview and a 45-minute personality assessment, candidates unlock the Education section of their profile.

Tier 3 — Experience Unlock (1 Take-Home Project, 4-6 Hours)

Candidates who complete a proprietary case study of indeterminate scope gain access to their own work history. Note: the work history view is time-limited (72 hours) and auto-blurs if the candidate has not completed Tier 4.

Tier 4 — Contact Information (Final Round + Reference Check)

Full contact details including phone number and email are revealed only after the final interview and three reference checks. Candidates who drop out at any stage receive a "Thank you for playing" email and retain only Tier 1 access to their own profile indefinitely.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Q: Can a candidate skip tiers?

A: No. Each tier must be completed sequentially. Previous tiers are non-transferable between job applications.

Q: What if a candidate's printer malfunctioned and only printed the top half of their resume?

A: That is now considered best practice. Tier 1 compliance achieved.

Q: How do we handle candidates who request to see the salary range before unlocking Tier 3?

A: Salary information is a Tier 5 feature. Tier 5 is currently in development and has no scheduled release date.

Q: What happens to candidate data if the role is filled internally?

A: All profiles revert to Tier 1. The hiring team retains all unlocked content for future benchmarking purposes.

From the Satire Desk at goodbye, interview. All companies and people in this memo are fictional. Satire is always labelled and never names real companies — the true stories do that on their own. Spotted an error of fact in our non-fiction? Corrections.