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Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
331–340 of 455 posts
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#332Earlier quoted context omitted.
The company I'm working for is struggling with this. They firmly believe in no remote. They won't entertain it for juniors, and generally to get approval you need to be pretty vital. But at the same time they've also opened up multiple offices (that are all in different geos, timezones). What the end result is that in my section of the company I'm effectively remote working from the off as my team has a remote contra…
Dude, you're an employee. If management doesn't respect you, look elsewhere. You're working in IT, it's not like you can't change work. You'll risk getting less money, but if you're happier who cares?
It's a combination of: I really like my manager and have had much worse, I'm using the company to move me to one of the other locations, and not really minding the going in. I'll probably start looking after the move.
My manager doesn't have much control of the WFH thing, it's the CEOs directive. I'm just a junior engineer with not much sway so my remote request was denied by their bosses boss who has never met me.
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#333That's brutal. We're on the other side of it right now trying to get exec and HR to actually commit to something so we can hire remote. We had multiple good people in the pipeline who we had to pass on, because they won't actually say if they'll demand these people move to Toronto (one of the worst housing markets in the world) as soon as they sign the papers. It's like we're supposed to surprise them with that?
That’s rough. The housing market there is like the SF Bay Area’s housing market, but with extremely abysmal pay. I’m surprised you guys didn’t go remote sooner.
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#334Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I'm not coming in, ever. In my experience working remote for the past decade "remote" usually involves coming to the office or having an offsite once a quarter. I don't think that's unreasonable at all.
I've been doing remote longer than a decade and never ever had to come in to the office when designated as such. Might be reasonable for you, but that's up to the individual and at the very least needs to be disclosed in the interview stage if it's mandated. Some people work remote because they have debilitating anxiety, phobias, or mental health issues. Others are single parents that don't have the ability to offloa…
I respectfully disagree. Traveling to the office or for an offsite once a quarter is totally reasonable and when planned some three weeks ahead or so, should pose no issues whatsoever.
If you are unable to fit this in your schedule, or are actually that mentally unfit you cannot oblige your fellow humans in your job... Every once in a while? Then you should not have that job. This should be considered reasonable by any standard.
Not wanting to deal with humans most of the time... Fine. Not being able to deal with your human colleagues, who do want to deal with each other, ever? Not fine. $0.02
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#335> I'm not sure what the compensation model for recruiters is, but it seems to encourage bringing in as many candidates as possible over treating them with honesty and respect. From experience dealing with recruiters for the last 25 years they universally lie to both sides to pocket the commission at all costs. I drove 400 miles once to do an interview for a solution architect position. Got there and the company were…
I drove to LA once to do an interview the next day after confirming with the in-house recruiter. When I got there they told me they didn’t think I was actually coming because they had already hired someone. Also they didn’t want to pay expenses despite offering to do so in their letter to me. So I called up a consultant firm I knew in LA and sez, “hey I’m in town interviewing at X for Y, but I don’t like them and I w…
This is how you play the game, hats off to you!
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#336This happened to me. The interview process went well but the company's closest office was 15 miles from me, which in Atlanta traffic is over an hour. I said I would need to be remote, they wanted me in the office full time. We were using an external recruiter, which I had never done before. Eventually the recruiter negotiated that I'd be onsite for the first month for onboarding and then remote after that. My first w…
> 15 miles from me, which in Atlanta traffic is over an hour. Sounds like bicycle speed.
If I had to drive into Boston or Cambridge from 15 miles out at rush hour, it would almost certainly take me about that long.
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#337This sounds situational. I know someone personally that just landed a remote L5 position at Google. I have spoken with dev managers at Facebook who are hiring remote positions. I have spoken with dev managers at Amazon who are hiring remote positions. My guess is that was the least offensive way the recruiter could come up with to tell you you didn't pass the "bar". And the hiring committee is, afaik, another "bar".
This is very much, not, situational. Going through the process now and has happened every time but 2 of the 10 or so I'm looking at.
That is definitionally situational: In my anecdotal situations things happened differently than in your anecdotal situations.
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#338Protip from an old guy: Always get everything in writing. No verbal promises. Make sure everything you discussed is written in the offer. If you discussed 100% remote, make sure the offer says 100% remote. If it doesn't, ask them to add it before you sign. And then if they go back on it, keep working there, look for a new job, don't go to the office even if they tell you that you have to, and bring up that you have i…
This works if they try to get you to come in right away, but things change and the company is allowed to change a remote position to an in-office position. It can even happen soon after hiring (but is obviously much more suspect). The company changing its mind !== wrongful termination.
> The company changing its mind !== wrongful termination.
It's true, it doesn't always mean that. But as with anything legal, it might mean that, it's mostly how well you can convince a judge!
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#339Amazon is doing this. I went through the process and the recruiter tried to manipulate me into "assigning a local office" otherwise it has to go through "an approval process". I told him put it through the approval then or I walk. He also tried car-salesman tactics of trying to get me to accept a lower total comp package. I stood firmly at the top of my range and after days of trying to convince me otherwise, they fi…
What led you to go from a cushy job to a sweatshop, if I may ask?
Re: Tell HN: Recruiters are lying about remote positions
#340Protip from an old guy: Always get everything in writing. No verbal promises. Make sure everything you discussed is written in the offer. If you discussed 100% remote, make sure the offer says 100% remote. If it doesn't, ask them to add it before you sign. And then if they go back on it, keep working there, look for a new job, don't go to the office even if they tell you that you have to, and bring up that you have i…
That feel when jedberg is now an old guy. I agree with you, but in my experience that’s also a recipe for misery. If management is determined to get rid of you, they will find a way. And you’ll be stuck on awful do-nothing projects in the meantime. Admittedly it’s much nicer to do that while being remote though. Just saying that it feels better to work at a place where management has your back.
> That feel when jedberg is now an old guy.
How do you think I feel! :)
> I agree with you, but in my experience that’s also a recipe for misery.
Agreed. When management doesn't have your back it's time to move on, which is why my advice starts with, "start your next job search", but in the meantime you can at least push back. At least you still get paid for do-nothing work!