Ask HN: Has anyone found employment through “Who wants to be hired” threads?

I got my current, first job through "who is hiring?" alone. The response rate was insanely high, I reckon >80% if I include the "thanks no thanks" answers. A few (obvious, but HN-oriented) tips:

  1 - don't spam
  2 - really, don't spam
  3 - put in some effort
  4 - keep it short

More often than not, you're given the chance to bypass the HR filter and get in touch directly with an engineer. This is key. Your default cover letter won't cut it, because engineers look for different things, so you want something tailor made every time. It takes some effort, but this will pay off.

Make sure you understand what they do, what they want, and what you can offer. Make sure you (quickly) go through the latter. You probably have something to offer even though you don't fit the profile they had in mind.

Make sure you know who you're writing to, and craft your email accordingly. Google him, go through their HN submissions/GitHub/whatever, get a feeling for what they might like.

Oh, and try to be nice and genuine, at this stage is a lot about people skills :) Good luck!

I got my new job on one of these threads. Even so, I'm disappointed by how many companies don't even reply to mails while they need "urgently" more people

I landed my current job after being contacted from my "Who wants to be hired?" post. I'm not exactly a rockstar ninja, but I was pinged by multiple people: a pleasant surprise and a welcome change from the online job application robo-filter/recruiter dance. Absent a concrete lead, I plan to post there again next time I'm looking for work.

I have found work as a remote developer (on contract not full-time) through this thread. The challenge is actually finding remote work. It would be nice if there was something that could make the search better.

I hired a dev freelancer, working with him for few months now. I am very happy, I think he is as well :). However, I noticed that most of devs here ask for $50+/hour, which was a way above my budget, so it took me time to find somebody (good price/quality ratio). On the other hand I did not receive many applications actually. Anyway, it was much better experience for me than looking for somebody on upwork and getting 100 proposals from outsourcing firms from India.

I applied for multiple remote jobs through HN "Who is hiring" thread, but barely got any replies. It must have been around 7 or 8 jobs. One company replied, for another one I did a coding challenge given from an automatic reply (but then never heard from them after) and all the others ignored me.

Honestly, I am really disappointed in how this is handled by them. It appears like they are looking for candidates urgently, but then do not even react. At least I would expect a rejection (with or without reasons given), but I got nothing instead. It was also not the case that I applied for jobs which did not fit my skill set or experience. In fact for most of them my experience would have been a very close fit.

I found the two previous YC startups I worked for in Who's Hiring threads, so they've been a great resource for me. Usually you'll get in touch with an engineer/manager quickly and often you'll learn of available positions that may not be listed publicly. User manlio has some great suggestions for contacting the companies (personalize, but keep it short).

I've interviewed a couple of candidates who mentioned seeing my job posting on HN. One candidate received an offer and the other did not.

I tried the thread couple of times but got no leads.

I know one person who was hired through a post I made on one of these threads.

I've hired 3 developers through HN. All A+ people.

I hired someone through this thread.

I've hired 3 people via HN

I am in my current job thanks to a who is hiring thread!