HACKER Q&A
📣 arupy

How to find companies that value deep work?


I’ve found from past work that I was able to enjoy my work the most when I had lots of autonomy, few distractions, and a role with great creative freedom. I’m now looking for a new job, but I find that most of my desired companies have open-offices, meetings throughout the day, and low prioritization for ‘deep work’, leaving little room for big ideas and creativity to flourish.

How should I approach finding companies/roles that value this type of work? Would I be able to find this type of environment at a larger company?


  👤 edmundsauto Accepted Answer ✓
Are you better at filtering, or at seeking?

One route is to cast a wide net, with a very specific filter.

The other is to be very targeted in who you approach. Find likeminded people, which will require finding a lot of not-likeminded people.

The key to both is scale. The work is both in the skill (how good of a filter do you have? How good are you at really identifying people who value what you value?), but the real secret is volume. Persistence, scale, volume, and a way to improve your filters.

There are no shortcuts.


👤 aristofun
Unless it’s some hi profile cutting edge RnD like ARPA or unique startup like google early days (when nobody was certain it was a unique startup) — there’s no point for someone to pay you a good money for full autonomy and creativity.

A business needs to survive and grow, for that it needs to execute in a scalable and controllable manner.

A business needs just hi quality cogs for their wheels.

So aim for that unique companies and good luck!


👤 burntoutfire
It's called a hobby or (better yet) a retirement.