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Ask HN: Any luck with Stackoverflow careers (employer side)?

by andrea_s on 4/9/15, 9:06 AM with 24 comments

• by mrcold on 4/9/15, 10:22 AM

  You touched the exact reason I don't use stackoverflow careers. Everybody there expects higher quality developers and all of them offer a "competitive salary". Why would I waste my time applying.

  If you want better quality, offer something better in return. Offer an amazing salary. Double the market. Triple. Fuck it, a truckload of money and 72 new virgins every day. Something that justifies your increased demands and expectations. Until then, the traditional route works better for me too. Because I get the exact same "competitive offer", but employer expectations are normal instead of stupid.

• by logn on 4/9/15, 12:10 PM

  Are you hiring for remote workers? If not, do a search on your city and see how many jobs come up. If barely any then that's the reason (chicken egg problem because your local devs have no reason to use the site).

  Otherwise consider having one of your developers re-write the job ad (HR-speak is an instant turnoff). And consider posting the salary range and explaining the hiring process.

• by dearprakash on 4/9/15, 9:41 AM

  I think it depends on your location and demand for the developers with expertise in that domain.

  For instance, Stockolm, Sweden is vibrant city with lots of startups and the need for good developers are constantly increasing. Stackoverflow careers is only used by very few companies and as far as i know, there has been good responses for those ads. I think its acts more like a filter compared to other routes. IMHO, There is a considerable amount of noise in traditional routes.

• by maxsilver on 4/9/15, 1:32 PM

  In general, higher quality candidates usually already have regular employment using "mainstream" tech at "competitive" salaries. Many of these folks have been burned by fake job leads and/or false promises -- they aren't likely to spend their time on you unless you give them a good reason to do so.

  If you want to recruit those people, you need to offer higher quality compensation, and make it exceptionally clear that the claims in your job ad aren't lies or half-truths. Make it clear that you actually want to hire someone, that you want someone good, that your position is worth having, and that a candidate isn't wasting their time trying to apply for your position.

  - - -

  Salary and benefits are a great place to start. Another option is more interesting, less mainstream technologies. Another option is increased flexibility, lower demands, or improved career growth (for example, 35hr work weeks, or paid conferences, ability to move up within an organization). There's lots of other interesting ways to do this, but make sure you cover the fundamentals well first, before getting creative.

  - - -

  If you are offering a high quality position -- don't hide it behind vague words, be overwhelmingly specific so that it doesn't look like you are lying (because many other companies do).

  For instance, Many people will mentally translate "competitive salary" into "low-ball salary", as that's what most companies use that phrase for. If your salary is actually competitive, you don't need to hide behind those words, you should just say the specific dollar range your offering.

  Similarly, if you actually offer great benefits, be sure to list them specifically. "Great benefits" will get mentally translated to "standard or shitty benefits", because that's what most companies use that phrase for. "100% employer covered HMO medical, for yourself/spouse/dependents." or "4% employer match 401k." is always more attractive than "great benefits".

  Do this for everything "We value networking and learning" means little, but writing "the company will pay 100% of the food/lodging/travel/ticket expense for one tech conference per year of your choosing" is valuable. Writing "we value work life balance" means little, but writing "we cap the work week at 35hours a week so you can spend more time with friends/family/out-of-work-activities" is valuable.

  - - -

  If you don't feel comfortable listing that information publicly, then you've identified your biggest roadblock to hiring. Make your offer something your not ashamed of first, before trying to grab new people ;)

• by loumf on 4/9/15, 6:24 PM

  I never used the Ad service, but I did use the resume database and it was pretty good.

  I only recommend it if:

  1. You are in a location with a lot of population or are willing to hire remote

  2. You are looking for mid-career developers -- (5-7 year range).

  If you use it

  1. Only contact people that are active -- I found the passive list not worth the time

  2. Do a little research on the person and make your opening contact somewhat customized to them. They are asking for contacts -- they might get a lot, so you have to stand out.

• by bdavisx on 4/9/15, 3:22 PM

  Do you have a link to the ad, or can you post it here? Perhaps the problem was in the wording of your ad...

• by teknologist on 4/9/15, 3:48 PM

  I'm a Quality Developer and my employer found me through SOC. Have been happy with everything so far.

• by brudgers on 4/9/15, 9:42 PM

  What's your company's Joel Test score?

  The ad should be ask and answer the question, Why would you want to work for us?

  IMO, say 45k. Everyone reading the range knows they will be low balled. Ask yourself: is it worth saving 10k if it reduces the applicant pool?

  Good luck.

• by cauterized on 4/21/15, 3:09 PM

  Best junior hire I made was through SO Careers. Kid w/ ~2yrs experience looking to transition from corporate to startup job. Hard worker, enthusiastic learner, awesome team member.

• by izolate on 4/9/15, 1:14 PM

  I boosted our Stack Overflow careers response quite considerably by posting a thread to my city's job subreddit with a link to the job. YMMV. Depends on how attractive your post is :)