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Comment by lyndonh | Hacker News Reader

Can I have a quick micro rant here: I don't want to know about perks when I'm job hunting. Tell me about the type of work (not a wishlist of skills you want), the ball park pay (not a range), the location (I'm looking at you, agencies), the level (entry level vs management) and the type of hours (I'm the type of weirdo that has a life outside of work). I don't care if you have free lunch or free t-shirts. I expect to work hard and get paid for it. P.S. Forget the marathon gauntlet interview with multiple skype calls; that's why I send you a copy of my resume and give you references. OK, rant over. Please carry on. Nothing to see here.

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Oh, I want to know the perks, because that tells me the culture.

If the perks are a gym membership and free transportation pass, it may be my kind of place. If tney mention ping-pong tables and game consoles in their lounges, I know I should run away screaming.

(If you are half my age, you might reverse those.)

I agree about needing to know the culture. I don't care about perks because I'm interested in the work and the culture. Job ads use the perks as the main justification why you should want to work there. I can find my own gym and transportation.

I consider perks as a part of the salary. Let's take an extreme case: free food. If I can eat for free 5 days a weekend, that's a lot of money I don't have to pay!

> If I can eat for free 5 days a weekend, that's a lot of money I don't have to pay!

How much salary are you on ?

I'm in France, salaries are different. I'm around 40k/year.

In my case, I use about 150-200€ for midday lunches in a normal month (eating out, I'm in a client's office, and eating at my desk would means eating alone, and I forbid myself to do this anymore). So that's 200*12 every year.

If it's free food, it's money I don't get, so I don't have to pay taxes on this money. I'm in the 30% range, so free food = about 3k€/year salary.

Comparing to the ingredient cost of making your own lunch (lets say $3), free lunch is only worth $750 a year. Maybe more if you eat expensive lunch items and you assign a time value because you hate making lunches that badly.

> Let's take an extreme case: free food. If I can eat for free 5 days a weekend, that's a lot of money I don't have to pay!

I think the extreme perk there is "5 day weekend", not "free food".

Indeed... When I write "week", my brain autocompletes with "end". My bad.

I would prefer the extra salary that it costs to provide it instead.

So, if the job post included the information you desire (the type of work, the ball park pay, the location, the level and the type of hours) AND then the following: "If that alone above sounds interesting and something you'd like to be a part of then inquire or submit your resume because we also offer numerous other perks we'd be more than happy to share with you."

Would that be the best type of job post? I would think so because then you know they aren't applying because they get X, Y, and Z but because of the work. X, Y, and Z might be nice perks if they enjoy them but if they don't care about X, Y, and Z you know they're still interested in the opportunity without them.

#1: Give me the actual location of the job, and on-site vs telecommute allowed.

Please go ahead and tell me about the culture, attitude, perks, etc: these are likely to be red flags that I need not apply!

>> P.S. Forget the marathon gauntlet interview with multiple skype calls; that's why I send you a copy of my resume and give you references.

Yes. That.

The location one is huge. I've seen headhunters list everything from Hamilton to Oshawa as "Toronto". These locations are like a 4 hour drive apart at rush-hour.

I'm constantly seeing agencies repost job ads and the only location information is the location of the agency; or sometimes they give a location of Townsville because Townsville is "only" a 2 hour drive from the true location.

I'd agree with this, but also add type of company. Somewhere where people need to wear a suit == instant rejection.

Fair points. I agree with you.

Cheers!

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