Check the bathrooms. The condition of actual working facilities will tell you more than you want to know about how a company treats its employees.
Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
161–169 of 169 posts
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is absolutely fascinating. I don't know how folks are earing this kind of cash when you can go to a recruiter, with more than decade of hands-on startup experience, and when you want more than 200k a year they look at you like you just kicked their cat. Then you see someone at a place like Lyft with four years of real world experience and one year with the company pulling 300-400k a year without breaking a sweat…
If you're serious: get a job at a well-known tech company. You might have to move for this unless you're already in a top-tier tech city (NYC, SF, and Seattle, definitely qualify; maybe Zurich, London, Toronto, and Sydney). Work there for two years. Move to a better tech company. You are now worth $300-400k per year. If you're not already considered top-tier talent, I think Amazon is the easiest way into this right n…
>The lifestyle and working environment is generally considered acceptable if not exemplary.
Isn't Amazon known for having the worst lifestyle and working environment out of all FAANG? https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-...
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're serious: get a job at a well-known tech company. You might have to move for this unless you're already in a top-tier tech city (NYC, SF, and Seattle, definitely qualify; maybe Zurich, London, Toronto, and Sydney). Work there for two years. Move to a better tech company. You are now worth $300-400k per year. If you're not already considered top-tier talent, I think Amazon is the easiest way into this right n…
>The lifestyle and working environment is generally considered acceptable if not exemplary. Isn't Amazon known for having the worst lifestyle and working environment out of all FAANG? https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-...
Ugh. Yeah, I've heard too many of these stories not to believe them. Most of the people I know at Amazon say they haven't experienced toxicity at that level, though, and that it depends a lot on your manager.
In the absence of a strong, healthy company-wide culture, managers create their own islands of toxicity or calm productivity. I don't know a simple answer of how to ensure you end up on the right one.
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is this advice for employees? Or VC's? I've NEVER had to do this for any of the jobs in my 20+ years as a software developer ... but there are some interesting points indeed.
What is the difference? Employees invest their time and careers into a company. For career growth, it is much better if your company is also growing. Grow or Die.
The difference is that for a lot of people, a job is just a way to pay the bills and for them, it matters very little what a potential employer's future plans are, beyond knowing that they will still have a job in a year.
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#165Crunchbase to get current and former founders/execs, last rounds etc. Company website for investor relations page if exists, SEC and regulatory filings to get financials, technology roadmaps, prospectuses, etc. Then avoid pinging anyone on linkedin other than to find who the core informal network that runs the company is. Find out: 1. Revenue and runway before next funding round or profitability. This trumps all in p…
I just looked at the Crunchbase entry for my current company It’s terrible Actually, it’s worse than terrible The revenue is several years old, the technology is wrong, the employees listed is laughable (except the founders) From the info I do know, I wouldn’t trust the info I don’t know on that site Since their data is so bad, I’m going to throw out some bad info too: if a company has less that 5,000 people, don’t l…
My company is listed twice (!)
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#166https://levels.fyi to make sure the level/comp accurately represents what i'm looking for
This is absolutely fascinating. I don't know how folks are earing this kind of cash when you can go to a recruiter, with more than decade of hands-on startup experience, and when you want more than 200k a year they look at you like you just kicked their cat. Then you see someone at a place like Lyft with four years of real world experience and one year with the company pulling 300-400k a year without breaking a sweat…
One thing to remember is that these numbers are typically for Bay Area or Seattle -- places where commuting isn't a feasible option unless you don't mind 2+ hours on the road every day. For San Francisco, making $300k/year you're looking at $185,464 take-home pay.
> In San Francisco and nearby San Mateo and Marin Counties it said $117,400 for a family of four was "low income", while $73,300 (£54,900) was "very low income" - the highest figures anywhere in the country. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44725026)
The cost of living in these areas is high and is still growing rapidly. At the end of the day, working in a tech hub is still a middle class to upper middle class job. You can achieve similar or better results in states like Utah and Texas, with a much better work/life balance.
I'm an ex-Californian and moved to a saner state. Total comp for me is roughly ~$150K, with almost all the bells and whistles you'd expect from Silicon Valley (still waiting for 401K matching). My commute is 20 mins and soon to be 5 mins. Property values for a large home where I live are still floating in the $500K range, with only 0.5% property tax. I haven't even topped out the market here either -- I know people making $170K salary + benefits out here.
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't apply to Sydney for sure. I make $50k-100k AUD less in Sydney compared to Bay Area, with all the same HCOL problems. A very, very good new grad total comp figure in Sydney is say, $150k AUD. That's $106K in USD, which is less than the salary for a new grad at Google or Facebook in the Bay Area. Throw in RSUs, signing bonus, and performance bonuses, and a new grad is making $50-100k AUD more.
The quirk here is that due to the E3 visa, it's about as easy to hire Australians to work in the US as it is to hire them to work in Australia. So why pay more for folks who stay at home?
> So why pay more for folks who stay at home?
What do you mean by this? I could imagine a scenario where the E3 visa puts positive pressure on Australian Software Engineer salaries, causing them to rise.
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#168Earlier quoted context omitted.
The quirk here is that due to the E3 visa, it's about as easy to hire Australians to work in the US as it is to hire them to work in Australia. So why pay more for folks who stay at home?
> So why pay more for folks who stay at home? What do you mean by this? I could imagine a scenario where the E3 visa puts positive pressure on Australian Software Engineer salaries, causing them to rise.
Put another way: why pay the same price in Australia?
Most companies want to have folks in the same timezone, preferably in the same office. There's really no substitute for being onsite with your peers.
Re: Ask HN: Tools or sites you use to scope out a workplace before taking a job?
#169Every job I’ve had in the past 15 years has had exactly the same office workspace: - horrid open plan layout with no quiet or privacy. - comically stupid budget wasted on boutique cafeteria and presentation spaces, catered lunches, coffee, snacks. - corporate slogans and motivational gimmicks painted on the walls. Why do you need to research office space for a new job? It’s always exactly the same.
Because there are still good developer jobs out there that give developers offices if they want? That seems to be to be a great reason to do your research.
PS: if you're in Indy I am hiring, you will get an office.