How to use Hacker News “Who is hiring?” to find a job

Hacker News is a news and discussion site for people who build software. Every month the account whoishiring posts a thread titled “Ask HN: Who is hiring? (Month Year)”, and companies reply with one post each describing the roles they are filling. The October 2026 thread had 263 company posts.

The thread’s own rules, at the top of every month’s thread:

• Only someone who is part of the hiring company may post: no recruiting firms or job boards.
• One post per company, and only for a role being filled now, by someone who will reply to applicants.
• Each post states the location, with REMOTE for remote work, REMOTE (US) or similar when only one country is allowed, and ONSITE when remote work isn’t possible.
• Readers should email only about jobs they are personally interested in.

Most posts are for engineering roles (179 of the 263 in October 2026 named one in their first lines), with some for design, product, data and sales.

On the first weekday of each month, at 11 a.m. New York time. In India that is about 8:30 p.m. while New York is on summer time (roughly mid-March to early November) and 9:30 p.m. the rest of the year. When the 1st falls on a weekend, the thread comes on the Monday: August 2026’s went up on Monday 3 August.

Read it in its first few days, while the posts are new and before the roles start to fill. Every month’s thread is listed on the whoishiring account’s page.

A post usually starts with a header line, its parts split by vertical bars: the company, the role, the place, the work mode, and often the type of job and the pay. For example:

Tidepool Labs | Backend Engineer | REMOTE (Worldwide) | Full-time | $60k to $80k

• REMOTE: you can work from anywhere the post allows. REMOTE (US) or REMOTE (EU) means only from those places.
• ONSITE: you work from the office named. HYBRID: some days in the office.
• VISA or “visa sponsorship”: the company says it can sponsor a work visa. Only some posts say it (15 of 263 in October 2026).
• INTERN or “internship”: rare in this thread (6 of 263 in October 2026).
• Below the header: what the company does, the roles, what they want, and how to apply.

Sometimes, and mostly for experienced people. When we read the October 2026 thread on 29 October, 7 of its 263 company posts mentioned India at all. Many remote roles are limited to one country, written as REMOTE (US). A smaller number say REMOTE (Worldwide), Anywhere or name Asian time zones, and those are the ones to read closely.

If you have two or more years of experience in software, and your work and English are strong, one month’s thread can give you a few companies worth writing to. If you are a student looking for an internship, your time is better spent on hiring posts on LinkedIn and Indian startups’ own job boards.

• Open the thread and use your browser’s find (Ctrl+F, or Find in page on a phone) for India, Bengaluru, Worldwide, Anywhere, IST, VISA or your stack, such as Django.
• The search box at the foot of every Hacker News page opens hn.algolia.com, which searches comments as well as stories, so you can look across past months too.
• The thread’s opening text links a few sites people have built to filter it by place and role.
• Keep a short list as you read: company, role, how to apply, and the post’s link. You’ll want the link when you write.

1. 1

   Read the whole post

   Check the place, the work mode and the experience it asks for. If it says REMOTE (US) and you are in India, skip it.
2. 2

   Use the route the post gives

   Most posts give an application link, and many give an email address, sometimes written as name [at] company.com to keep spam robots away. Some say what to put in the subject line: do exactly that.
3. 3

   Write a short email or note

   Say you saw their post in Hacker News’s Who is hiring thread, name the role, give the one piece of your work that matches it best, and link your code or portfolio. The free cold email builder gives you the shape.
4. 4

   Don’t apply by replying in the thread

   Replies under a post are public, and the person hiring reads applications where the post says to send them. Email or use the link.

Arjun, a backend developer in Pune with three years of experience, finds a post that says REMOTE (Worldwide) and asks for Python and PostgreSQL.

Posted at the same time each month, “Ask HN: Who wants to be hired?” is where people looking for work post about themselves, and some companies read it. Its format, from the thread’s own text:

Location: Remote: Willing to relocate: Technologies: Résumé/CV: Email:

Fill in each line plainly, link a resume that opens without a sign-in, and use an address you check every day.

• Emailing every post with the same message. Write to the few that fit you, and say why each one does.
• Ignoring the place. REMOTE (US) means the company can’t hire you from India, however good the email.
• Paying anyone to apply or to be considered. Check the company’s own website before you send personal details.
• Sending a follow-up the next day. Wait about a week: how to follow up after no reply.

More ways to find openings outside job portals: the hidden job market.