Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (July 2025)

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overview of participants

  • Global mix of candidates: North and South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia, plus a few explicitly “worldwide remote” consultants and agencies.
  • Wide spectrum of availability: full-time, part-time, fractional/CTO, short-term consulting, internships, and entry-level roles.

Roles and seniority

  • Heavy concentration of software engineers: backend, full-stack, frontend, mobile, embedded/firmware, game dev, DevOps/SRE, data, ML/AI, and platform engineering.
  • Seniority ranges from students and recent grads to 20+ year veterans, staff/principal engineers, founders, CTOs, and enterprise architects.
  • Several emphasize leadership: team leads, heads of engineering, VPs, principal architects, and product leaders seeking impactful or strategic roles.

Technologies and domains

  • Common stacks:
    • Web: TypeScript/JavaScript with React, Next.js, Angular, Vue, Node.js, Django, Rails, Laravel, .NET.
    • Backend/systems: Python, Go, Java, C#, C/C++, Rust, Elixir, Scala, Erlang, Haskell, Zig.
    • Data/ML/AI: PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, LLMs, RAG, LangChain/LangGraph, MLOps, HPC, scientific computing.
    • Infra/DevOps: AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Terraform/Ansible, CI/CD, observability stacks, on-prem and cloud.
    • Specialized: embedded systems, FPGA, robotics, telecom/NFV, geospatial/GIS, low-latency trading, game engines, AR/VR.
  • Several candidates highlight significant open-source projects, popular tools, or production systems at scale.

Remote work, time zones, relocation

  • Strong tilt toward remote-only or remote-first; many have years of prior remote experience.
  • Some accept hybrid or on-site locally; a subset are open to international relocation for the right offer.
  • Time-zone flexibility is common, with people explicitly able to overlap US and EU hours or work odd schedules.

Values, preferences, and constraints

  • Repeated interest in meaningful or ethical work: climate, net-zero, education, healthcare, civic impact, “benefit humanity,” or non-extractive business models.
  • Multiple people explicitly avoid crypto, pure “AI wrapper” startups, gambling, or “vibecoding” cultures.
  • Several want small, high-trust, early-stage teams; others emphasize stability after layoffs or health issues.
  • A few note financial urgency or desperation, security-clearance status, or visa/relocation constraints.

Non-engineering and hybrid roles

  • Also represented: UX/UI and product designers, data/BI analysts, data scientists, DevRel, support and customer success, strategy/architecture consultants, mechanical/hardware engineers, security analysts, and fintech/product specialists.

Thread interactions

  • Minimal debate; occasional replies flagging broken or private résumé links and website errors.
  • Overall tone is professional and aspirational, with a mix of optimism and candid concern about the job market.