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Ask HN: What info do you wish every job posting included?

by cmorgan8506 on 5/24/18, 12:52 PM with 82 comments

• by mindcrime on 5/24/18, 2:24 PM

  Salary range, description of office environment (and/or actual pictures), remote work policy, expected hours, dress code, tech stack details, some details on what the project actually is, and a quick "Joel test" like summary of the current development practices.

  Also, a note indicating whether or not managers refer to people as "resources". Also, the name of the actual development methodology (if any) that is in use (eg, don't just say "Agile" - tell me if you're doing Scrum, SAFE, XP, Crystal, UP, or your own made-up thing, etc).

• by jccalhoun on 5/24/18, 2:42 PM

  I'm in academia and I wish job ads would be more honest and straightforward. They are usually full of boilerplate about how great their college is and diversity statements and you have to read between the lines to find out what they really want.

  I wish they could just say, "we already have someone we want to hire but the dean is making us do an formal search." I know they can't really say that but it would be nice if they could say something like "we want someone to teach X, Y, and Z," "we have listed a bunch of specialties but we really want someone who researches X," "this is a new position," or "the person that had this job retired."

• by randcraw on 5/24/18, 2:39 PM

  Was the person I'm replacing promoted, fired, or did they leave voluntarily, and how long did they work there? What are the criteria for promotion? Describe three people in the group (in the last decade) who were promoted. What made them special?

  How many hours of meetings each week? What fraction of my time is spent outside creative software development (req specing, designing, and coding)?

• by lejeanvaljean on 5/24/18, 2:17 PM

  1) Photos of the office, I mean the actual office, not the cafeteria or the hall at the entrance :)

  We have something like that in France, that's called "Welcome to the jungle" (Guns N' Roses reference maybe), but again, you mainly see photos of the coffee machine.

  2) a commentary on the position by someone at the same or equivalent role at the company

• by Tharkun on 5/24/18, 2:32 PM

  Remote (yes, no, how often).

  Salary. Over here in .be, it's very difficult to compare salaries. When posted at all, it's usually a single monthly number before tax. It's impossible to compare that with other postings, because one offer might contain a better pension fund, or a company car (what kind?) or meal vouchers (worth?) and dozens of other potential forms of non-cash wages. I'd much rather see an annual number which includes the net worth (or employer cost?) of all that nonsense.

  Company size and/or size of whatever the team the ad is for.

  Office, pictures or description.

• by pleasecalllater on 5/24/18, 2:16 PM

  Remote possibility, salary range, the future manager/team_leader name (or better: a link to online identity), recruiter contact information, responsibilities, expected work time per week.

• by megaman22 on 5/24/18, 2:21 PM

  Salary. It's almost never there.

• by jcadam on 5/24/18, 3:23 PM

  - Does this job posting represent a real, urgent need or are you just fishing?

  - Team Size

  - Can I choose my own tools, or are you going to force Eclipse on me (deal-breaker)?

  - Office environment. Open (no thanks)? Cubes (Meh)? Private offices (nice)?

  - Salary range

  - Average number of hours per week. Don't say 40 if it's really 60.

  - Employee development. Do you send people to conferences (this is rare nowadays, and can really differentiate you as an employer)? Tuition assistance/reimbursement? Books?

  - Health care benefits information (This is so variable that I always ask for this information before accepting an offer).

• by bertil on 5/24/18, 2:44 PM

  I know that’s too much, but:

  - A link to senior executives explaining their worst mistake and what they learned from it;

  - The same, but their actual reaction to: “What are your corporate values? -- Those are the same corporate values as Enron.”

  - Noise curve in the office;

  - what the interviews are testing for.

• by oldsklgdfth on 5/24/18, 2:19 PM

  What the team dynamic is like and how they collaborate. Not the tools they use, but how they communicate with each other.

  I can work with terrible people if they can communicate. And I can learn to hate the softest soul if we can't get on the same page.

• by ISL on 5/24/18, 2:36 PM

  Clear description of the project and customers. Accurate description of the team, philosophy, tooling, and culture. Reliable salary range. Links to employment contract and any NDA that might be required.

  If the company is private, a link to a fiscal summary equivalent to the SEC's 10-K.

  If any of the statements above are intentionally misleading, the job candidate is due compensatory damages.

• by zerr on 5/24/18, 2:37 PM

  Salary, part-time possibility and work-life balance info in general, and whether REMOTE is possible outside US or no.

• by Raed667 on 5/24/18, 1:29 PM

  Interview process, team size, salary (or reasonable range), desired starting date and latest starting date.

• by SteveNuts on 5/24/18, 2:23 PM

  Whether or not the office is an open floorplan.

• by byoung2 on 5/24/18, 1:30 PM

  Salary range, remote work possibility, tech stack, job responsibilities

• by enzolovesbacon on 5/24/18, 2:58 PM

  Besides the obvious, I'd also like to see:

    - Salary range for that specific position (not for the whole department (I've seen that))
    - Remote work policy
    - Visa sponsorship policy
    - Vacation policy
    - Interview process
    - Link to future manager's technical background
  

  Also, please avoid using cute/hipster phrasing shit that's full of puns, hearts and whatnot. Just get straight to the point.

• by kawfey on 5/24/18, 2:49 PM

  I'm an EE with RF design and antenna chops, but I've been hired into a few jobs where I had only the vaguest idea of what the work actually is. One was a configuration management role, and the other was a software test engineer (and I've coded maybe 150 lines in my lifetime).

  Neither of them had any mention of these activities in the postings, and both of them were specifically for EE's with requirements to understand antenna and radio systems. The interview started to shed light that it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but certainly there would be the opportunity, so I was told.

  To me, a disclaimer that mentions you may not be doing anything actually related to this posting would be nice.

  Generally speaking:

  1) what is the actual, physical, tangible, product?

  2.) What is my actual, specific, day-to-day role for this product? Or how will I fit into the creation of this product?

• by lwhalen on 5/24/18, 6:20 PM

  Salary range - "What's the least you're willing to pay a barely-concious droid who squeaks by with the bare minimum of effort to not get fired, versus the top-end for the 'does it all and then some' purple-squirrel candidate who ascends your corporate achievement ladder with a Greek chorus of rainbows and unicorn-giggles?"

  Fully remote? Yes or no would suffice. I just might _be_ that aforementioned purple secret squirrel for your role, but my 50 square-mile chunk of rock might be nowhere near your 50 square mile chunk of rock. Would this discrepancy be resolvable by a convenient global communications network and low-latency link to same, or are you mired in last century's "manager must be able to see your butt in a chair at all times" model of employment?

• by molly0 on 5/24/18, 2:30 PM

  If not remote, what my colleagues interests are, so I know that they won't talk too much about sports.

• by codesternews on 5/24/18, 2:18 PM

  How much my colleagues are getting salary on same post?

• by xutopia on 5/24/18, 2:50 PM

  Churn rate at the company and if there are people who left their phone number as references.

• by jasonlotito on 5/24/18, 2:31 PM

    Salary (Competitive salaries aren't competitive, they are average).
    Vacation policy.
    Remote work options.
    Office plan (Do I have my own office?).
    Tooling used (including hardware provided and upgrade policy).

• by i_dont_know_ on 5/24/18, 5:09 PM

  A link to the whole HR manual. Some places have insanely condescending HR policies (requiring doctor's notes to 'count as sick', or strict hours for a job that could be done remotely, strict dress codes, weird rules about lunch etc).

  Usually HR policies are treated as a second thought and presented to you after you've accepted employment, but these details will impact you and your quality-of-work. For instance, places that require doctor's notes will have people come in to work while sick more frequently, meaning you can expect to get sick more, etc.

• by Thriptic on 5/24/18, 2:36 PM

  * Company mission statement, department mission statement, role mission statement, and how all 3 of those things fit together. I want to make sure that people actually know how they fit into the grander scheme of the company.

  * Salary range

  * Actual responsibilities and day to day activities. If the job is going to be to hack on some awful legacy code base then you should say that.

  * How large is your company, where are you at with funding, and where are you at with product development.

  * Interview process

• by fergie on 5/24/18, 2:59 PM

  Since I am a functioning adult and therefore have various obligations outside of work, I need an unambiguos breakdown of salary, holidays, overtime, flexitime and pension.

  You can choose to be coy about it, but you will have to tell me eventually, so you might as well let me know up front. It will save time for all of us.

• by mrfusion on 5/24/18, 3:51 PM

  What’s involved in the interview and how much of a time commitment the interview process is.

• by olavgg on 5/24/18, 2:19 PM

  Interview process, organization / team structure, salary range, technology stack, benefits / vacation / freedom and a good description of the business domain.

• by awat on 5/24/18, 7:39 PM

  If there is actually a need for this position? I’ve recently run into a few positions where they are just fishing and aren’t necessarily filling an existing position.

• by collyw on 5/24/18, 2:41 PM

  The hoops you will have to jump through for an interview. Build a mini app that will likely take you more than a weekend? Hackerrank?

• by vax425 on 5/24/18, 2:43 PM

  # of hours of mandatory meetings per day.

• by j7ake on 5/24/18, 8:38 PM

  A list of alumni so I can see where people go afterwards or how long they stay

• by linux2647 on 5/24/18, 2:40 PM

  Who the company is (beyond their name), what they do, or what their mission is.

• by bytematic on 5/24/18, 3:03 PM

  These are all great questions to ask in interviews for newbies as well.

• by robohoe on 5/24/18, 2:29 PM

  Communication stack, documentation, and development methodologies.

• by dominotw on 5/24/18, 2:35 PM

  What level of flogging can you expect in the interview.

• by sampl on 5/24/18, 2:18 PM

  Link to bio of hiring manager, example project brief

• by asdz on 5/24/18, 2:58 PM

  How many people have work on the position before

• by amelius on 5/24/18, 3:36 PM

  Pursued/actual level of gender equality.

• by amelius on 5/24/18, 2:28 PM

  Salary of peers.

• by bigtimber on 5/24/18, 2:21 PM

  Actual work location, if not 100% remote.

• by davedx on 5/24/18, 2:51 PM

  Salary, location.

• by franzwong on 5/24/18, 2:57 PM

  Visa sponsorship

• by probinso on 5/27/18, 9:24 AM

  time to response

• by onion2k on 5/24/18, 2:37 PM

  Entirely selfishly - absolutely nothing.

  I'm quite happy to find a phone number and call the company directly if I want to know something. In my experience that gives me a huge advantage over 99% of candidates who are only willing to read adverts passively.