Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2024)

Hacker News Discussion ↗

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.