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Ask HN: How to solicit resumes when not actively hiring

by monkey26 on 10/11/22, 7:13 PM with 12 comments

We currently have a list of open job positions that are not open. The idea is to keep some resumes coming in as we might find a diamond. But showing these positions as open doesn't sit well with me.

What's a good way, or a good example to encourage people to apply if they think they'd be an asset to our team even if we have no real open positions that fit them?

  • by ksaj on 10/11/22, 7:36 PM

    How long do you plan to hold onto their data? Are you going to continue contact to ensure they're still interested? Are you burdening them to tell you repeatedly over the months down the road that they are still interested (or not)? Kinda like a newsletter they have to sign up for?

    You are basically describing a head hunting operation. Connect with a head hunter and let them do the vetting, instead of wasting so many people's time for a job that is going to be 20 levels away.

    You have the gig, or you don't. Or you're a headhunter for a single job that maybe might be available some time way out in the future. That would be a waste of everyone's time.

  • by dewey on 10/11/22, 7:23 PM

    It's fairly common to have a "If you think you are a good fit, even if there's no open position, feel free to still contact us" line on the job pages.

    If that will get you a good number of results is the other question.

  • by stevenalowe on 10/11/22, 9:22 PM

    Do not lie to applicants. Ever. Ads for jobs that don’t exist are false advertising (IANAL) that may cause legal issues.

    If you’re always hunting for unicorns, say so, but IMO collecting resumes “just in case” is a waste of everyone’s time, and collecting them under false pretenses is way worse.

  • by endisneigh on 10/11/22, 10:14 PM

    If you don't have an open position why are you wasting your teams time by soliciting and reviewing them. Do you and your team not have better things to do? If you do actually need or desire another "diamond", why not actively recruit?

  • by rrwo on 10/11/22, 7:33 PM

    I've seen a lot of companies have a jobs section on their websites that talk about what great places they are to work, and the kinds of skills they are looking for along with an email address for people submit resumes.

    But I myself wouldn't submit anything to a company this way unless someone at the company suggested it.

    And I suspect that people who send their resumes this way are either junior developers looking for job, or developers who are desperate for a new job. So I'm not sure how many diamonds you might get.

  • by pyb on 10/11/22, 9:50 PM

    Don't do it, it's not good behaviour. Or be extremely clear that you're just fishing.

  • by joshxyz on 10/11/22, 10:23 PM

    might find a diamond but how will you find if its a diamond if you wont actively interview it lol, im confused maybe you really need to hire, just admit it?