Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#21

Post by IggleSniggle » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:10 AM UTC

sam0x17 wrote: post #13

souprock wrote: post #4

I've tried to find people that way, but usually there is nobody. Let's see, searching for "assembly" and "assembler" and "embedded"... 1. I already asked. He wants Rust and probably won't leave Albuquerque. Bummer. He'd be perfect. 2. Argentina... nope. 3. Barcelona... nope. 4. One might work. I probably already asked, but don't remember. 5. Remote only... nope. 6. Lisbon... nope. 7. Paris... nope. 8. I already asked…

It's funny, because people who code assembly and embedded systems are exactly the type of people well-suited for remote work.

...unless it requires futzing with the scarce pieces of shared development hardware by hand?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#22

Post by souprock » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:12 AM UTC

maxharris wrote: post #12

souprock wrote: post #4

I've tried to find people that way, but usually there is nobody. Let's see, searching for "assembly" and "assembler" and "embedded"... 1. I already asked. He wants Rust and probably won't leave Albuquerque. Bummer. He'd be perfect. 2. Argentina... nope. 3. Barcelona... nope. 4. One might work. I probably already asked, but don't remember. 5. Remote only... nope. 6. Lisbon... nope. 7. Paris... nope. 8. I already asked…

Why aren't you open to remote work? I've been at NodeSource for the last four years. We are all remote. I honestly don't understand why anyone would go to an office to write code in 2019.

It's mainly about security. We keep our stuff off of computers that can reach the internet. I get two computers at my desk, one for random internet junk and one for real work.

I happen to like the side-effect on work-life balance. Nobody will ever expect me to do a bit more work at home. When I go home, I'm totally off work. I also get paid overtime, so I'm not getting cheated at the office either.

It's also somewhat about physical hardware. Remote use of screw drivers and soldering irons is difficult.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#23

Post by viraptor » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:13 AM UTC

souprock wrote: post #4

I've tried to find people that way, but usually there is nobody. Let's see, searching for "assembly" and "assembler" and "embedded"... 1. I already asked. He wants Rust and probably won't leave Albuquerque. Bummer. He'd be perfect. 2. Argentina... nope. 3. Barcelona... nope. 4. One might work. I probably already asked, but don't remember. 5. Remote only... nope. 6. Lisbon... nope. 7. Paris... nope. 8. I already asked…

> but usually there is nobody.

Yet you list 11 people with 1 "ideal". There seems to be lots of people.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#24

Post by triceratops » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:18 AM UTC

> Were you hired after someone contacted you?

I got 2 interviews + 1 follow-up not leading to an interview out of emails sent to 6 companies. Didn't convert either of the interviews but I think I was very close with one of them. I think talks broke down over salary expectations when speaking with the VP of Eng.

> Did you receive responses that weren't recruiter-spam from your posts there?

Yes. 3-4, of which about half were promising, in response to 1 post. They didn't work out for other reasons.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#25

Post by northisup » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:19 AM UTC

Yes! Last time I was interviewing I got multiple offers from my post. I did get some recruiter spam but it was mostly founders or early engineers that did the reaching out.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#26

Post by tonyarkles » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:20 AM UTC

dheera wrote: post #10

tonyarkles wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a shame you're not open to remote. I didn't post in that thread, but matching on "assembly", "assembler", and "embedded" is right up my alley. Unless you happen to be anywhere near Regina, SK :)

Let's avoid judging -- remote is awesome if it works, but a lot of people aren't open to remote precisely because they're in a field or industry where it's incredibly logistically difficult. For example if you're a hardware company it's often pretty hard to do work without the actual hardware in front of you.

100% agree, which is why I'd want hardware delivered :). Not as easy for e.g. an electric vehicle, but pretty straightforward for smaller electronics. I come pre-equipped with a decently stocked lab: nice 'scope/logic analyzer, ok spectrum analyzer, nice soldering setup for SMD, hordes of JTAG adapters and dev boards, 3D printer, etc. I've been doing remote hardware work for a while now; there are definitely a few challenges, but it's generally worked just fine.

Edit: I looked at their profile and saw the citizenship requirement, and more of a description of the kinds of stuff they work on. I get why remote might not be encouraged for it :). The point still stands generally though; remote hardware work is possible and not a huge burden for most situations.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#27

Post by aerovistae » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:20 AM UTC

I always have this overwhelming desire to comment on people's posts in those threads. I wish they had a peanut gallery.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#28

Post by mmoc » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:20 AM UTC

This is a pretty famous story along these lines. Ryan graves (now billionaire) at Uber: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/10/uber-billionaire-employee-no...

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#29

Post by nonbirithm » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:23 AM UTC

Yes. I was hired by a university on a temporary position from HN after I finished college. It was my first job post-graduation.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone ever been hired from “Who wants to be hired?” threads?

#30

Post by souprock » Tue, Jul 02, 2019, 1:24 AM UTC

toyg wrote: post #5

souprock wrote: post #4

I've tried to find people that way, but usually there is nobody. Let's see, searching for "assembly" and "assembler" and "embedded"... 1. I already asked. He wants Rust and probably won't leave Albuquerque. Bummer. He'd be perfect. 2. Argentina... nope. 3. Barcelona... nope. 4. One might work. I probably already asked, but don't remember. 5. Remote only... nope. 6. Lisbon... nope. 7. Paris... nope. 8. I already asked…

Seems to me like the actual problem is staring you right in the face, though: you are not in a tech cluster and you don't want to countenance remote working. That instantaneously removes 90% of the pool - or rather 99%, since no city on Earth has 75m people in commuting distance. No wonder you struggle to find people, particularly for a hard skill like assembler.

Somewhat yes. It depends on where you draw the line for "tech cluster", both for the size and for the industry.

Austin and the DC area sort of count. No, they aren't the Bay Area, but nothing else is.

Specifically for low-level security work, there are a number of competitors both large and small in Melbourne, FL. There is also embedded work related mainly to aerospace.