Ask HN: Job hunting remotely, looking for tips and to avoid potential pitfalls

[jobsearchthrow]

I have 5 years exp in .net and am looking to move to NYC in the new year. I live in a considerably smaller metro area currently and am finding the scope and breadth of the market intimidating. In the past I have had the normal programming job hunt hurdles to leap; whiteboard interviews, multiple phone/in person interviews, flakey HR responses or no responses. All of that are things I feel are standard in the job hunting process I am comfortable about going through again.

Currently I am finding that even looking for and settling on a place to start is overwhelming. The potential of places to work seems 100x the current market I am in (and it probably is). This leads me to think I should connect with a recruiter but that brings a whole new host of issues I am unfamiliar with, since I have never used a recruiter in the past.

With that being said, I was wondering if people here had advice or experiences worth sharing with regards to job hunting and the issues that might not be as recognizable before you went through the process. Pay negotiations, setting up in person interviews, traversing a larger job market, whether or not to use a recruiter and how to find a good one. Anything that could be helpful or pertain to a large market job jump.

[meesterdude]

My advice would be: don't hesitate to walk away. If they are unprofessional from the start, it's a huge red flag, and never works out. Don't put up with BS like 30 minute psyche profiles, or code tests before talking to anyone about the role or culture.

recruiters can be helpful - and frustrating. It's a mixed bag, but there have been a few good ones.

Be patient, do other things in the meantime. Anything you can get locally will have a better chance than remote.

Use something like resumasters.co to polish up your resume and linkedin.

Otherwise, don't get discouraged!

[jobsearchthrow]

thank you, I usually follow pretty close to this in my job searching and interviewing process. I didn't know about resumasters, that looks like a great resource, thanks!

[awinder]

This is a bit ahead of the getting started area, but the last time I was interviewing out of state, no one told me this, and I was young, so here goes:

Do not let companies set you up for failure with a ridiculous travel schedule. I was flown from MD->CA for a big-five tech company, on a flight with 2 layovers, that arrived at 11PM, with interviews starting at 10AM the next day. I have never screwed up an interview so bad as that one, and to some level I still blame the whirlwind schedule for being super-fried coming into that interview setting.

You'll probably get much better suggestions from the rest of the group here, but hopefully this still-painful-12-years-later story will bring some amount of levity. Best of luck! :)

[jobsearchthrow]

Thanks! I thought about this as well. One thing I would ask, how common is a company paying for travel/accomodations for an interview? I am capable financially of making trips for interviews, but I almost feel like I need a commitment from a company to show that they consider me a serious potential hire for me to spend my own money for just an interview.

[charlesdm]

If the company isn't willing to pay for your travel, you shouldn't work there. Serious companies will pay for travel.

[sokoloff]

100% accurate. When I was interviewing on the west coast, I tried to coordinate between two companies where one would pick up the hotel and the other the flights, mostly so I didn't have to cross the continent twice. That was a surprisingly difficult thing to pull off. Each of them seemed to prefer to pay for it all and have me criss-cross once per company...

[samfisher83]

Why didnt you just get them to both book you a flight and the just not take one of the flights each way.

[sokoloff]

I eventually got them to cooperate. Your solution would have been ok, but only if one was still willing as I’d have to book one east->west round trip and fly only the first leg and the other west->east (starting after the interview) and fly the first leg of that, because the airline is able to cancel all your remaining legs once you miss a leg.

It seems that might be harder than just telling one of them that I’ll already be in the area on such and such date.

[pavel_lishin]

Doesn't that rather depend on the job? A senior position, yes; but why would a New York company spend two grand bringing someone in when they've got qualified applicants lining up out the door?

[RhodesianHunter]

Because they're paying recruiters 15-25% of the first year's salary just to get qualified applicants and two grand on travel is just a drop in the bucket.

[jobsearchthrow]

good to know, thanks!

[thenanyu]

I’d say try Hired and Triplebyte as a baseline to get some deal flow going

A good remote culture is something you should look for. Remote-first if you can find it.

For example, where I work (Abstract) we are based in SF but 70% of employees are remote and we do not change the pay scale based on geography. The center of gravity is remote and not at HQ

[chasedehan]

I second triplebyte. I liked their process a lot even though I didn’t accept a job through them.

I actually found my current position through HN. Check The Who’s hiring threads.

[kathrynhough]

Check out https://app.talentpair.com - they work with experienced recruiters that have relationships + AI to match you with remote jobs.

[ccvannorman]

Neat! I just signed up, and will see what happens.

I also recommend WeWorkRemotely.com and CyberCoders.com, two of the most user-friendly sites I've seen for tech jobs.

Hired.com was mentioned earlier, and they are quite good. I've had a very pleasant experience so far.

Lastly I'll also mention TopTal - I haven't tried them yet but have heard good things.

[hadeon]

Hi,

I just went through the same process - moving to London from New Zealand. I found that I had the most success when I directly applied to companies that I had a very very close fit with, rather than the more generic jobs. My feeling for more general jobs was that the companies weren't really interested in putting the time in if they couldn't meet me in person - but for jobs where I was a good fit they went out of their way to make it easy for me to interview.

I would recommend just picking a random company and putting some effort into an application for them, then rinse and repeat.

[jobsearchthrow]

This has been my experience as well. I guess my initial hang up is some of the companies that I am interested in are so huge that my usual strategy of finding a hiring manager on linkedin is much more difficult. Where as when applying to a company of 500 employees, they probably only have a few hr people, vs XYZ fortune 100 company has potentially hundreds.

[tmaly]

I have used recruiters on almost every job I have worked. I find it is easier if they have an existing relationship with the company and management. They can provide you with a better idea of what the people are like at the company in some cases.

[world32]

Sorry but I think you are very naive for thinking that.

Recruiters will be able to tell you very basic information about the working place (i.e. office hours, dress code, number of holidays, size of the team etc.) - all the things that you can easily find out for yourself. And keep in mind they are NEVER going to say something bad about the company. They are trying to sell the job to your so they can get their commission.

On top of that, the recruiter needs to be paid one way or another (in the UK they usually get paid a percentage of your salary over 1-2 years). Although recruiters are usually paid by the employer and not the candidate, it still means that to an employerer a candidate costs less to them if they come directly rather than through a recruiter. Hence you will have a harder time getting a higher salary if you go through a recruiter.

They are nothing more than middlemen and you are doing yourself a disfavour by using them if you do.

[tmaly]

I agree there are a lot of boiler room type recruiters out there that fit your description. However, there are some that truly build relationships with the management of the firm. Some firms like the one I am at now, establish relationships with only a limited number of recruiters.

[pavel_lishin]

It's very hard to find a good recruiter, though. Some of the ones I've used just started shotgunning a list of job titles and companies at me.

[chasedehan]

I couldn’t disagree more. In my experience I have found recruiters to be a complete waste of time (whether internal or external).

[RhodesianHunter]

Recruiters are like Realtors.

The vast majority are crap. The really good ones are worth their weight in gold.

[borplk]

At some point "the good ones" are rare enough that it makes no difference if there are any "good ones" somewhere or not when your chances of finding one is ridiculously low.

[world32]

I'm wondering, what can a recruiter do that would ever make them be worth their weight in gold?

[cimmanom]

The question then becomes: how do you find a non-awful recruiter remotely?

[ccvannorman]

I'm in the same boat you are (Unity AR/VR developer looking for a new job / relocation).

I've had the best luck searching for very specific roles / job titles that fit me and reaching out to companies I have a special / good fit with. It's been working well, and serious companies have already begun offering to fly me out for the final interview. This is standard.

[auslegung]

Just to clarify, are you trying to land a job in NYC, or are you trying to land a remote job?

[jobsearchthrow]

sorry for the lack of clarity , plan on moving to nyc, but I do not currently live there. The main reason I bring it up is I have heard HR/companies will potentially ignore people with non local addresses, as well as there are clear logistical issues associated to not being less then an hour away from an interview.

[dmode]

I hire a lot in SF. A remote address in the same country is usually not a barrier as we will fly people in if they make it to the on-site round. The bigger challenge is actually standing out among the 400-500 resumes we receive per job. A referral is a far better approach to getting your foot in the door that applying online