Hacker News Reader

Comment by donw | Hacker News Reader

Provided that the "solid consulting rate" isn't pure bullshit, then I don't see the problem here.

In a traditional hiring process, you'd be hired, not work out in the first month, and then get fired. No unemployment or ongoing insurance for the employee, and a lot of paperwork and the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit for the employer.

By starting things off on a contract, both the employer and the employee have a chance to evaluate one another. It's really exactly the same as the traditional hire-fire process, but with less paperwork, and clear expectations on both sides.

View on HN

Automattic, the creator of WordPress, the blog and website tool. Still, every hire, without exception, goes through a two- to six-week contract period, and is paid the standard rate of $25 an hour.

$25/hour: seriously?

That seems ridiculously low for any software job. I've known design interns making almost double that in SF.

I don't have a very sharp view of the practices in the US. In The Netherlands it is possible that the employer and the applicant agree to a proof period of maximally 2 months in which both sides are able to terminate the contract.

It is also possible here to offer the applicant a temporary contract which can be renewed two times (for the same contract period). Both parties needs to keep to this contract, they can only end it on pre-negotiated terms. After two renewals of the contract the employer needs to let you go or your contract changes in a normal, non-temporary one.

I think these measures are more appropriate to deal with uncertainties about possible misfits? It makes sure both parties make a commitment for trying to make it fit as I see it.

I read something completely opposite here:

«Candidates get about three weeks of work to complete in a week — and not much guidance. “It’s ‘Here’s your desk and some people you should know,’ ” Mr. Rusenko said.»

I wonder if they could not improve their interviewing skills.

> “We tell people to take a vacation, and we pay them,” he said. That way, if it does not work out, “you have one less week of vacation, but the next time you take a vacation it can be a nicer one.”

If I had 7 weeks vacation, maybe. Much less that you can basically only do a trial like this once a year, but spending half of your two weeks vacation a year might be worth a lot more than money.

>By starting things off on a contract, both the employer and the employee have a chance to evaluate one another. It's really exactly the same as the traditional hire-fire process, but with less paperwork, and clear expectations on both sides.

That's got to be compensation for New York not being a right-to-work state

Reply on news.ycombinator.com