HACKER Q&A
📣 throwaway097992

Why do some YC companies keep posting the same job bi-weekly?


I noticed a pattern in the job posting section where some YC startups are posting the same job every two weeks.

When you apply, you don't receive a return.

Have you had the same experience?

What are the odds of companies using job sections for advertising?


  👤 dang Accepted Answer ✓
I assume you're talking about the front-page job ads described in https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html and https://news.ycombinator.com/jobguide.html?

I've been meaning to look at the data to see what needs to be tightened or cleaned up there. Currently the rule is that active YC companies can have an ad at most once per two weeks (as you saw), with the caveat that priority is always given to the company that has waited the longest since their last ad or have never posted one before.

We don't monitor the accuracy of the ad content nor how the companies respond to applicants—not that those things aren't important, but we don't have the resources to check them.


👤 lnxg33k1
The whole job industry is a scam, I’ve applied for jobs and been asked to register an account to some portal, or received coupons to buy stuff, I hope some regulator notice and will do something

👤 conductr
Easy Post is the one I’ve seen constantly and consistently over several years. I assume it’s a growth hack where they just constantly have their name in front of HN eyeballs

👤 bendigedig
Some companies advertise solely to make themselves look dynamic to investors.

👤 zeitgeistcowboy
I just talked with a recruiter that said 80% of companies are posting jobs just so they collect the answers to the diversity questions so they can prove to the government that they are considering everyone. You know, the questions about race, gender, veteran status, and disabilities.

👤 kevinmershon
I'm not saying this is the case here, but there can be both tax and labor outsourcing incentives for posting a job ad that you "just can't seem to fill".

👤 BugsJustFindMe
I can't say anything about YC specifically, but, anecdotally from working at a great place that was fairly well known and that constantly had job calls going out for months to years on end, it's because the bulk of people applying actually sucked at either software engineering or at not being weirdly aggressively rude or both.

You might think that the people on HN are all super brilliant engineers with patience and social grace in spades, but I doubt it.


👤 binsquare
From what I can tell, companies seem to use job postings as a form of advertising for potential customers.

Especially since this forum is frequented by techies, having a job post will get eyes on their product from their target customers as well


👤 coolThingsFirst
Because HN fails with moderation, it's not only on HN there are tons of boards that post jobs and aren't looking for engineers. Some will even interview you but they aren't looking for an engineer. The more generic the name of the company the more likely it's BS.

Haven't checked if a person with email nota[particularAnimal]@gmail.com is still posting the same job.


👤 siva7
Probably also marketing because those yc posts get special treatment from the hn algo to appear on the front page.

👤 echelon
How frequently are YC companies allowed to post on the front page?

I got over two dozen applications to my "who's hiring" thread post. (People want to work in Rust and AI/film/gaming, which might skew our numbers.)


👤 cvhashim04
Steady stream of candidates in the pipeline?