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Comment by nathanaldensr | Hacker News Reader

I fail to see how yet another job board is going to solve what is essentially a human monkey-brain problem. Just how is this company going to get all players to be honest? I just had an interview at what I thought was a good company where I was--get this--accused of being long-winded. Yes, I was accused of talking too much in an interview. How can a website solve this type of problem, among all the others?

You're going to discover that companies don't want to be honest during the interview process. They'll lie to your face and tell you Everything is Awesome™. You're going to discover that applicants are dishonest as well. Everyone's lying to signal to the other that it should be a match.

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>You're going to discover that companies don't want to be honest during the interview process. They'll lie to your face and tell you Everything is Awesome™. You're going to discover that applicants are dishonest as well.

I've spent the past ten years in the hiring space so I promise you, I've already discovered all of those things en masse.

This isn't a silver bullet to transform hiring. It's a foundation that improves on existing job boards by making simple elements like salaries and info on interview processes mandatory. Our intention is to then build on this foundation and create a platform that affects many more areas of the hiring process in a positive way.

Every single potential employer I ever interviewed with made me guess blindly at a salary they might deem acceptable. When I asked questions about it, they all went silent. I have yet to find that unicorn employer that acts differently.

Strangely, I've found that big companies are more willing to tell you the salary range. I assume because they have distinct job grades and salary tied to those grades.

You did not do any research at all?

Somewhat related - I've always wished that HN allowed comments on the Jobs posts (not who is hiring, which is a normal thread, but the YC backed company posts). I think there are a number of people in the community who have had interactions with these companies and could provide insight to those thinking about applying to them.

That's an unnecessary and pointless shitshow waiting to happen.

People with insider info and trust cannot share that info. It would involve cutting their own throat and burning bridges. Any nice things said about the company would get pissed on as "Well, of course, you would say that because this is HN/you must be a shill/whatever." Inevitably, someone would feel the need to say something terrible so as to be edgy/honest/whatever.

There is just absolutely no good that can come of that.

I disagree. Looking at the Who Is Hiring threads, most of the (minimal, sure) comments are either questions about the position or company, with some commenting poorly on the company.

That seems like a different use case to me.

Agree with this. I find it odd that they don't tbh.

I assumed the jobs posts are paid, and probably generate significant revenue. As such, honest discussion about the companies would not be beneficial to two of the three parties in the endeavor ie HN and the advertiser. We, developers, the target of the advertising, would benefit from candid discussion.

AFAIK job posts are not paid, they are a benefit to YC companies. I think it is fair to not open them to comments, as it would be a distraction from the main purpose (advertise the company).

They are also not subject to voting, they have a fixed path through the front page.

It seems to be the mentality lately that nobody wants to fix existing stuff and make it better. They want to launch their own disruptive startup, library, whatever. It's true in job boards, it's true in code libraries and tools as well.

> Yes, I was accused of talking too much in an interview. How can a website solve this type of problem, among all the others?

You mean you've never had a long winded candidate who wouldn't get to the point, where despite repeated attempts to get things back on track, you could only get through half the material you wanted to cover, and where everyone else who interviewed the same candidate was frustrated by the same thing? I almost envy you.

Companies don't interview people. When I'm interviewing a job candidate, I don't feel any incentive to lie about working conditions. Why would I want a coworker that wouldn't have accepted if they knew what the job was like?

You might be more rational than most people I've interviewed with. Many interviewers are less skilled and experienced than I am; my feeling is that egos can be bruised and folks can feel threatened. Interviewers don't want to admit their companies (and they) have problems. This is basic human self-preservation instinct.

I usually find that people are happy to complain about work. Maybe this becomes less true at small startups.

Unfortunately the easiest way seems to be either create a monoculture or adopt the overly-political but more robust model.

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