This software startup can tell your boss if you’re looking for a job | Hacker News Reader

This software startup can tell your boss if you’re looking for a job

washingtonpost.com

22 pointsprotomyth9 comments

Interesting that the article mentions Stack Overflow, as back in April we changed our Terms Of Service to explicitly disallow these kinds of scrapers: http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/277369

Of course that doesn't stop it from happening, but at least now we can send notice and take action when we find scrapers.

Idea for the next unicorn: "our new startup can tell you if your boss is using Joberate so you can get the hell out"

We will have an IPO next week

>We will have an IPO next week

Not if Joberate acquires you first.

I'm sorry, but I find tools like this so questionable. The idea the boss should know when his or her employees are planning to leave without even asking seems like a Orwellian nightmare waiting to happen.

Reminds me of those apps people install to track friends and relatives.

Why is it wrong for a manager to understand the needs and motivations of their employees? Sometimes you don't have to ask directly - there are other signals.

Rands covers a good portion of it here: http://randsinrepose.com/archives/bored-people-quit/

While it's not wrong for a manager to try to make his/her employees happy, I think the parent covered it when he/she mentioned the Orwellian aspect of it. My other fear would be my employer deciding to see me out the door much more quickly if they found out that I was looking for another job.

In a way it's better. If they see you might be looking they might give you a raise whereas if you said to him. "hey, I'm looking" it might just get his back up and he might start looking for a replacement

Or he might yank some bogus reason out of his ass to fire you.

Funny enough - it's all too common for a company to poach employees directly from another job. It's an odd double standard (though understandable) that an employee could get backlash for looking, but recruiters actively try and poach.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com