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Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

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Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#21
post #18

If you're a software engineer (or will work closely w/ engineers), I built Key Values ( https://www.keyvalues.com ) to help w/ this. Before building KV though, my research process included looking for and reading: - the company's career and about us pages - an active blog w/ recent posts (w/in the last 2 months) - LinkedIn / Twitter / GitHub of founders and existing team members (I'd also look for any old blogs writt…

Key Values is a very cool idea! Have you thought about adding a location filter?

Yes of course! It'll happen once there are more companies on the site. For now, Ctrl + F works great on the homepage :P

Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#22

If you're a software engineer (or will work closely w/ engineers), I built Key Values ( https://www.keyvalues.com ) to help w/ this. Before building KV though, my research process included looking for and reading: - the company's career and about us pages - an active blog w/ recent posts (w/in the last 2 months) - LinkedIn / Twitter / GitHub of founders and existing team members (I'd also look for any old blogs writt…

It would be great if you could filter for the lack of (or the opposite of) some value... e.g. flat organization.

Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#25
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course not. You tell the old job that you have a personal crisis and that you would love to stay on as a part-time remote consultant...

No offense, but that approach would make me not want to hire someone like that or work with someone like that. It may appear that you’re pulling one over on your previous employer, but if anything, that is probably a blessing for them to no longer have someone that operates in a shady fashion like that employed by them. Edit: The undesirable behavior was in reference to the lying about a personal crisis. I personally…

It might be doable without telling your new employer at all.

Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#26

If you're a software engineer (or will work closely w/ engineers), I built Key Values ( https://www.keyvalues.com ) to help w/ this. Before building KV though, my research process included looking for and reading: - the company's career and about us pages - an active blog w/ recent posts (w/in the last 2 months) - LinkedIn / Twitter / GitHub of founders and existing team members (I'd also look for any old blogs writt…

Nice idea, but I'm very confused what I'm doing or how it works - it starts with non-zero matches, and then for each thing I click it _increases_ the number of matches...

I'd expect it to start large, and then filter down with more things selected. But it's not even like it's acting the other way, including only companies that match at least one thing I clicked, because it started non-zero.

Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#27

Used to use Glassdoor, but it has become progressively more rude/pay-walled over the years, and they allow more paid employer astroturfing than they used to. I suppose that's just a sign of the times, and I don't necessarily have a grudge against the company for doing so. It does however mean that the site is no longer useful to this end, at least for me. As for directly contacting a company, I tend not to. Sometimes…

It seems pretty obvious that something is off when a company has 50/50 good and bad reviews, with the bad ones offering a ton of detail, and the good ones way too positive and overly "corporate" with no detail.

Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#29
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course not. You tell the old job that you have a personal crisis and that you would love to stay on as a part-time remote consultant...

No offense, but that approach would make me not want to hire someone like that or work with someone like that. It may appear that you’re pulling one over on your previous employer, but if anything, that is probably a blessing for them to no longer have someone that operates in a shady fashion like that employed by them. Edit: The undesirable behavior was in reference to the lying about a personal crisis. I personally…

I wouldn't lie about a crisis, but it's business. It's not unheard of to take a better offer and offer to work as a consultant at the previous employer.

Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?

#30

Don't give notice yet. Instead, take a week of vacation and start the new job during that week. Make your official decision during afternoon tea on Sunday.

This is very unprofessional and a great way to burn your bridges.
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