Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 52 posts

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#31

Post by eminkel »

zeno00 wrote: post #22
eminkel wrote: post #16

Aloha, I'm not on Oahu, but Maui. Pretty abysmal here as far as tech work. Been here since February, and now playing with the idea of looking for "real" work. Still hacking on pet projects.

Aloha! I'm actually on Maui too for about 2 years. It is indeed dead here for tech work. There is some stuff in the Maui Tech Park.. Boeing, defense stuff. And I've see some job listings occasionally for work in Wailuku but it's mostly IT work. There's tons of money floating around here, I feel like there's an opportunity somewhere to start something cool but it has eluded me so far. Good luck!

There certainly is, and it's a bit insane. My email is in my profile. Hit me up if you ever wanna hit the beach with some beers, talk tech/code and bon fire. :)

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#33

Post by rubyjedi »

You're going to have to deal with lower pay, combined with the higher cost of living -- it's a double-whammy that not many are prepared for when working in Hawaii.

'Not many jobs announced in public, except for Entry-Level stuff. The few higher-level jobs that ARE announced are usually environments with shameful turnover rates.

My recommendation: Unless you've got something lined up, it's not worth staying in the islands to hunt for a great tech job -- you could spend months trying to find something worthy of a solid skillset; or you will be deeply dissatisfied working in a less-challenging job just to get by.

Having said that, I'm always on the lookout for great talent for my own shop. .NET or Java backend (WebServices), or top-notch front-end Angular2 against Node or Rails. I can be Googled for contact info.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#34

Post by rymohr »

I've been a software developer on Oahu for ten years and I'm currently working on my own startup with my brother [1]. There are plenty of "real" jobs over here but to be honest, the community of talented developers on island is so small that you're not going to find the jobs online. Go to the local meetups and ask around and you'll find plenty of people that are hiring.

Not sure what your background is but if you're interested in the work we're doing at Kumu hit me up (think github meets gephi focused on social impact). We're hiring and have found it incredibly hard to find local developers that A) know their shit, and B) don't already have a better offer.

All in all, if you're a decent human being and you're good at what you do you'll have no problem finding a job wherever you look.

[1]: https://kumu.io

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#35

Post by philippnagel »

rymohr wrote: post #34

I've been a software developer on Oahu for ten years and I'm currently working on my own startup with my brother [1]. There are plenty of "real" jobs over here but to be honest, the community of talented developers on island is so small that you're not going to find the jobs online. Go to the local meetups and ask around and you'll find plenty of people that are hiring. Not sure what your background is but if you're…

Your product seems interesting, although I do not fully understand it. Am I right in assuming it's a data viz tool aimed at people and orgs trying to improve society? What's your elevator pitch?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#37

Post by nstart »

zeno00 wrote: post #25
filthee wrote: post #13

Funny I was just daydreaming about doing just this. Currently in SV but considering a move out there for a couple years before heading home to the East Coast.

You should do it, being by the ocean is great. You'll find tons of things you love.

Just curious. How do you manage the rusting of equipment? Tried living by the sea, but the A/C, fans, and everything else including the PC monitor was rusting away after 6-16 months

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#38

Post by mac01021 »

vogt wrote: post #15
jwatte wrote: post #11

What's wrong with defense contractors? Sends like a good match to the island pace of life?

There are things like clearances and drug tests that a lot of people in tech find prohibitive to working for a defense contractor.

I guess if drugs are a big part of your life that could be a dealbreaker. But what's the big deal about clearances?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#39

Post by r4vik »

mac01021 wrote: post #38
vogt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are things like clearances and drug tests that a lot of people in tech find prohibitive to working for a defense contractor.

I guess if drugs are a big part of your life that could be a dealbreaker. But what's the big deal about clearances?

I don't do drugs but I wouldn't take a programming job where I had to do drug tests

Re: Ask HN: Anyone work in Honolulu?

#40

Post by rebeccaskinner »

mac01021 wrote: post #38
vogt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are things like clearances and drug tests that a lot of people in tech find prohibitive to working for a defense contractor.

I guess if drugs are a big part of your life that could be a dealbreaker. But what's the big deal about clearances?

People who are ideologically opposed aside, the biggest problems with jobs that require clearance AFAIK is the cost and turnaround time, meaning that companies may only want to hire people who are already cleared- or you can be sitting around without work for a long time. Many jobs that require clearance also may require work locations that lack the flexibility of other jobs (if you're working on-site for example, then you may have strict working hours, severely locked down workstations with restricted internet access, etc.)
Post reply on HN