Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2024)
Hiring across the tech sector remains active, with hundreds of startups and established companies advertising roles in software engineering, data/ML, DevOps, product, and design. Many emphasize remote or hybrid work, modern stacks (e.g., TypeScript, Go, Rust, Python, K8s), and mission-driven domains like healthcare, climate tech, AI infrastructure, and developer tools, though some still require strict onsite presence or narrow time zones. Candidates repeatedly raise themes of pay transparency, responsiveness to applications, visa constraints, and work–life balance, highlighting how process and culture now weigh as heavily as compensation and tech stack in evaluating opportunities.
Remote work, time zones, and visas
- Many postings are “remote” but constrained to specific regions (US-only, North America, EU, UK, etc.).
- Commenters frequently ask whether companies will consider non-local or non-US candidates; often the answer is no.
- Some roles labelled “remote” still expect hybrid or in-office work, which causes confusion.
- Visa sponsorship (especially for non-EU and non-US candidates) is rare; several companies explicitly say they cannot sponsor.
Compensation and transparency
- Some companies provide detailed salary ranges; others omit them or provide very broad bands, leading to frustration.
- There is debate over the usefulness of wide posted ranges (e.g., “200k–600k”) versus crowdsourced data.
- A commenter raises legal obligations to post ranges in some jurisdictions; moderators discourage turning the thread into a legal debate.
Hiring processes and responsiveness
- Multiple people report applying to recurring postings (e.g., some YC companies, MixRank, Railway, SerpApi, others) and never receiving a response, raising doubts about whether roles are truly open.
- Some founders respond, claiming they do review all applications and asking for examples where they failed.
- There’s appreciation for humane, practical interview processes (e.g., paid trials, take‑home work that resembles actual job tasks) and dislike of LeetCode-heavy pipelines or invasive proctoring.
Workload, hours, and tracking
- A few roles specify demanding expectations (e.g., six days a week in-office), which many commenters criticize as unsustainable or self-defeating.
- There’s interest in four‑day work weeks and calls to make that a searchable tag.
- Some companies require time-tracking or screenshot tools; several commenters view this as excessive surveillance and misaligned with senior/remote culture.
Moderation and thread etiquette
- Moderators repeatedly remind participants not to derail “Who is hiring?” into off-topic debates, and to avoid repetitive questions (e.g., the same user asking about non-US eligibility on many posts).
- Meta-comments critiquing specific companies or hiring practices are sometimes detached into separate threads to preserve focus.