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Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

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Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#41

Post by lotsofpulp »

uVacCXNiiJCTnYB wrote: post #39
lotsofpulp wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The best paying jobs are often parasitic. Like stock manipulation. Or you could look at it as part of the process of allocating society’s resources towards more productive ventures from less productive ventures. It is not the perfect mechanism, but if anyone has a better idea, they are welcome to share. I would credit at least some people working in finance for opening up the ability for any financially illiterate…

In theory that's true, but in practice the people at the top deciding what's profitable aren't working for maximising public good, so it doesn't work anymore

Who are the people at the top? How do they “decide” revenue minus expenses?

Are you claiming there is widespread fraud in SEC filings?

If you are referring to many industries becoming controlled by a handful of large organizations, then people working in trading and finance have nothing to do with that. That is in the political arena.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#42

Post by roenxi »

mcv wrote: post #8

The weird irony of our society seems to be that the most useless jobs pay the most, while the most essential jobs pay the least. A lot of important work is being done by volunteers and charity organisations. The best paying jobs are often parasitic. Like stock manipulation.

Stock manipulation isn't really a "well paying job" though. The person making money isn't drawing a salary.

The key insight that explains the situation is that we pay based on how easy it is to replace someone. If you are doing a critical job that everyone can do (like cooking) then it is unlikely to pay well. There has been little success by systems that pay people based on how important their job is.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#43

Post by 7373737373 »

mcv wrote: post #8

The weird irony of our society seems to be that the most useless jobs pay the most, while the most essential jobs pay the least. A lot of important work is being done by volunteers and charity organisations. The best paying jobs are often parasitic. Like stock manipulation.

Interesting downside of human psychology/market dynamics, if many want to help others e.g. as nurses or teachers, that positive trait is punished financially due to the high number of applicants

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#44

Post by thr0wawayf00 »

Hoasi wrote: post #21
rethab wrote: post #9

> I've also found that interviews don't tell you much about reality. Always ask to see code and talk to engineers about what their days look like. I believe there are very few legitimate reasons they won't show you their code, but more likely if they're refusing, it's because they're hiding something. When talking to an engineer, ask them how their code goes from idea to production and have it explained in detail . T…

> Always ask to see code and talk to engineers about what their days look like. I believe there are very few legitimate reasons they won't show you their code, but more likely if they're refusing, it's because they're hiding something. When talking to an engineer, ask them how their code goes from idea to production and have it explained in detail. In an ideal world it makes sense to have a look at the code and under…

I've asked to peruse source code in interviews and some companies have complied. Never hurts to ask.

I usually just throw out the idea to let my interviewer share their screen and navigate the codebase while I ask questions. This way, we don't have to fiddle with repository access and I can get a glimpse of their organizational culture.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#45

Post by lotsofpulp »

gremlinsinc wrote: post #34
ragebol wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Why is that though?

Because people who value specifics about a career or have a passion do it more out of that passion because they know it doesn't come with high pay. Take teaching for example. Also people working for non profit or other socially beneficial companies probably know the company budget goes to help more people not to pad CEO pockets... The lowest rung of essential jobs are the easiest ones to get so those most desperate f…

> I wish we all could just earn the same amount

In your society, what is the incentive for someone to clean up diarrhea in a gas station restroom?

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#46

Post by uVacCXNiiJCTnYB »

gampleman wrote: post #24

First, you need to actually value interesting work in relation to other job values (like compensation, good working hours, low stress, making a difference, family friendliness, good management and many others). Generally these will be a tradeoff, but you might find one where the tradeoff suits you. For instance I had a job I really enjoyed at an Earth Observation startup geeking out about maps and space, but the comp…

See the specialising part is interesting to me, because I've found a lot of companies expect you to be very specialised these days, and it really gets in the way of trying new things.

I was originally in the game industry and left it because I was stuck in a hyper specialised niche (web-based game development). I went back to more general full stack, but even here a lot of companies will specifically look for people based on them having multiple years of commercial experience with their specific stack, rather than just holistic experience in the broader area.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#47

Post by QuarterReptile »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #41
uVacCXNiiJCTnYB wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory that's true, but in practice the people at the top deciding what's profitable aren't working for maximising public good, so it doesn't work anymore

Who are the people at the top? How do they “decide” revenue minus expenses? Are you claiming there is widespread fraud in SEC filings? If you are referring to many industries becoming controlled by a handful of large organizations, then people working in trading and finance have nothing to do with that. That is in the political arena.

I presume he's talking about Congress, and by 'deciding' he's talking about them making regulations that effectively have the US government underwrite long tail risks while leaving profits privatized for larger financial institutions.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#48

Post by mstipetic »

nurettin wrote: post #11

> Everything is crypto "web 3" bubble, fintech, or recruiters being very vague about "unicorn" startups I work in fintech and it is very interesting to me. I've turned down recruiters from 50 countries since getting this job and I obviously don't care if you think money is the root of all evil or some other weird tree hugger babble. So what is interesting for you ?

Tree hugger babble? Aren’t you just confirming the fintech stereotype

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#49

Post by uVacCXNiiJCTnYB »

nurettin wrote: post #11

> Everything is crypto "web 3" bubble, fintech, or recruiters being very vague about "unicorn" startups I work in fintech and it is very interesting to me. I've turned down recruiters from 50 countries since getting this job and I obviously don't care if you think money is the root of all evil or some other weird tree hugger babble. So what is interesting for you ?

Something useful that feels like it's worth being made, technically interersting to make (which to me generally means challenging to keep me interested), and with good quality tech practices where you can feel satisfied you've done good work. You need a good balance between "getting things done" and "doing things right".

So ideally I want something that satisfies as much of those things as possible.

I'm not necessarily blanketly against fintech or any other thing, but for example a lot of fintech will just be used to further the interest of people who are leeching the world's money and resources and increasing inequality. So I would feel bad about it.

Some fintech is genuinely innovative useful stuff though

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find the interesting jobs?

#50

Post by s5300 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #45
gremlinsinc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people who value specifics about a career or have a passion do it more out of that passion because they know it doesn't come with high pay. Take teaching for example. Also people working for non profit or other socially beneficial companies probably know the company budget goes to help more people not to pad CEO pockets... The lowest rung of essential jobs are the easiest ones to get so those most desperate f…

> I wish we all could just earn the same amount In your society, what is the incentive for someone to clean up diarrhea in a gas station restroom?

Said society has fairly simply automated self-cleaning restrooms.

It’s really not that hard, or expensive.

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