Comments
Hacker News
This makes no sense. Even from a completely cynical corporate perspective, wouldn't these people's dependency on the employer for sponsorship be a plus, not a minus?
HR people are like alien entities from another dimension. These borderline stupid and ridiculous ideas they disseminate and the framework of nonsense bullshit they force on proper experts is mind boggling.
It's like a snotty kid telling a grown adult to go, f themselves because they think that's funny.
by lofaszvanitt
If you are in tech, never move for a job immediately. Work there for 90 days before you even touch a UHaul form. I have been at companies where within 20 minutes I hated my coworkers (playing EDM on high all day in office). Just get a hotel at motel 6. If you are loving the job then the move is a less stressful and enjoyable.
by ransom1538
It is amazing to read the comments and see the level of cynicism about the hiring process. Anyway, a reason to relocate for me is bringing better opportunities to my children. I had the option to stay with a good paid job in my country of origin, where the social differences are huge, or relocate to another where society is more flat but to start again professionally. I took the second one.
by josmor
Maybe I just haven't met these engineers, but isn't the problem usually "I don't want to relocate" ? Who talks about relocating as if that's the primary motivation for a job?
by Kirby64
This seems so obvious. It's like asking your manager for a raise and giving the justification that you want a bigger house.
Always be marketing what you can/will/have done for the company to bring value, not what the company can do for you.
by Hippocrates
This is very good, practical advice. I would go even further and say that you shouldn’t even allow yourself to get into a position where you need to manipulate your answers to interviewers for this question. If the primary reason you want a job is for the relocation, you might be signing up for a job you don’t even like!
I’ve been part of a small number of hiring decisions where relocation was involved. There were a lot of failures exactly like this article talks about: Candidates who will say anything in the interview and even signal that they’ll accept any average salary as long as you’ll take care of their relocation were, in my experience, not interested in doing the work after they got here. Taking the job was a means to an end (getting to their destination) and once they arrived they were either looking for the next job or too busy traveling around their new location to do work.
We tried to mitigate this with clauses requiring them to pay back relocation expenses if they left within N months of arrival, but this didn’t work. They would resign the week after that timer expired or, worse, would start trying to get laid off through poor performance as a way to avoid that clause.
The best fits for relocation were opposite of what I would have thought: The people most hesitant to relocate were the most successful, both at the job and in establishing their new social life outside of work in the new location. They were relocating and taking jobs for the right reasons.
by Aurornis
The advice can be generalized even more. When communicating with an employer or potential employer:
-> Subordinate yourself to the desires of capital in all areas.
-> Suppress the self.
-> Become a true human resource. You are seeking to sell a large chunk of your life, and the buyers don't want scratched or dented goods. Desires of your own are flaws in the product you are selling.
This is, sadly, sound advice, but I think it's important to reflect on what this means about how incidental human flourishing is in our current political economy.
by ElevenLathe
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- Hacker News
- This makes no sense. Even from a completely cynical corporate perspective, wouldn't these people's dependency on the employer for sponsorship be a plus, not a minus?
- HR people are like alien entities from another dimension. These borderline stupid and ridiculous ideas they disseminate and the framework of nonsense bullshit they force on proper experts is mind boggling.
It's like a snotty kid telling a grown adult to go, f themselves because they think that's funny.
by lofaszvanitt - If you are in tech, never move for a job immediately. Work there for 90 days before you even touch a UHaul form. I have been at companies where within 20 minutes I hated my coworkers (playing EDM on high all day in office). Just get a hotel at motel 6. If you are loving the job then the move is a less stressful and enjoyable.by ransom1538
- It is amazing to read the comments and see the level of cynicism about the hiring process. Anyway, a reason to relocate for me is bringing better opportunities to my children. I had the option to stay with a good paid job in my country of origin, where the social differences are huge, or relocate to another where society is more flat but to start again professionally. I took the second one.by josmor
- Maybe I just haven't met these engineers, but isn't the problem usually "I don't want to relocate" ? Who talks about relocating as if that's the primary motivation for a job?by Kirby64
- This seems so obvious. It's like asking your manager for a raise and giving the justification that you want a bigger house.
Always be marketing what you can/will/have done for the company to bring value, not what the company can do for you.
by Hippocrates - This is very good, practical advice. I would go even further and say that you shouldn’t even allow yourself to get into a position where you need to manipulate your answers to interviewers for this question. If the primary reason you want a job is for the relocation, you might be signing up for a job you don’t even like!
I’ve been part of a small number of hiring decisions where relocation was involved. There were a lot of failures exactly like this article talks about: Candidates who will say anything in the interview and even signal that they’ll accept any average salary as long as you’ll take care of their relocation were, in my experience, not interested in doing the work after they got here. Taking the job was a means to an end (getting to their destination) and once they arrived they were either looking for the next job or too busy traveling around their new location to do work.
We tried to mitigate this with clauses requiring them to pay back relocation expenses if they left within N months of arrival, but this didn’t work. They would resign the week after that timer expired or, worse, would start trying to get laid off through poor performance as a way to avoid that clause.
The best fits for relocation were opposite of what I would have thought: The people most hesitant to relocate were the most successful, both at the job and in establishing their new social life outside of work in the new location. They were relocating and taking jobs for the right reasons.
by Aurornis - The advice can be generalized even more. When communicating with an employer or potential employer:
-> Subordinate yourself to the desires of capital in all areas.
-> Suppress the self.
-> Become a true human resource. You are seeking to sell a large chunk of your life, and the buyers don't want scratched or dented goods. Desires of your own are flaws in the product you are selling.
This is, sadly, sound advice, but I think it's important to reflect on what this means about how incidental human flourishing is in our current political economy.
by ElevenLathe