Ask HN: Is it worth it to post on the 'Who Wants To Be Hired' thread? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is it worth it to post on the 'Who Wants To Be Hired' thread?

27 pointsrubenvanwyk16 comments

Title. I see many people posting but would like to hear if people really get jobs this way?

I think you're just valuing your own time far too highly - if you're looking for a job, it's fine to spend 45 seconds writing a comment without getting validation from strangers first.

Posted a few times last year: got a bunch of interviews out of it and got hired twice: first time didn't really work out (just very incompatible in many ways, both mine and the employer's fault). Second time did work out and still working there (since July).

So from my perspective: yes.

Also got some spam and nonsense though. I think the first time I posted it I only got spam and nonsense, the second time I got hired, the third and fourth time I got some interviews and eventually hired.

I got a job through a Who’s Hiring post that helped me move to Copenhagen, DK. I’ve gotten a few interviews through Who Wants To Be Hired, mostly interesting companies who then ask me to apply as if I was a regular candidate.

In one case, I got a very nice email from the CEO, I applied, but I was never told what kind of position I was interviewing for, so it was really tough to tailor my answers and focus.

Undoubtedly some people get jobs this way. But even if none have so far, that doesn't mean you won't. As they say in the finance industry, "past performance is no guarantee of future performance." Given how easy it is to post your info, why the reluctance to do so?

In particular HN is public, archived record.

I guess that answer is the same as for my reluctance to play the lottery: Opportunity cost. I don't like to spend time on things with ~zero benefit.

Also putting your details out there if already employed may not be a good idea cause of visibility to your current employer

I've had much better luck with Who's Hiring.

EDIT: Oh, it looks like a job from a few years back I thought I reached out for was actually them reaching out to me from Who Wants to Be Hired.

So apparently I had good luck after all. :)

For context, it was a security research position.

I had luck with it. I was hired from the February 2022 HN post and enjoyed working there for three years before we were acquired. I posted last week in February 2025, hoping for similar results.

How effective it is will be different for each person, since supply and demand is different for each job. Clojure CTO and React UI Developer aren’t vying for the same job, for example.

2021-2023 were different times, now almost zero chances, if they receive thousands CVs.

Yes. I posted in Feb of 2021, was hired and still at the same place.

i hired 2 engineers in Argentina through that thread and they were some of our best resources.

I hired a designer from one.

You end up getting what is basically spam from dickheads and their apologists.

And that's just the sociopath tech CEOs who're trying to "cast a wide net" wrt recruiting (i.e., lying in their email responses to you about how they "saw" your post and thought you might be "a good fit"). I still also get straight up junkmail sent to a single-use email address that I once posted in a "Who wants to be hired?" thread. Take appropriate precautions.

while i do no tknow, this question is really great :)) ++1

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