It seems like that "great developers never apply for jobs" is taken as an axiom on HN, but it's implicitly assumed that every developer works in an area with a

It seems like that "great developers never apply for jobs" is taken as an axiom on HN, but it's implicitly assumed that every developer works in an area with a zillion of companies to choose from, has an extensive network of friends in all those companies etc. Bay Area or London might definitely be like this, but there are many cases where this simply does not work like that: - a geographical area with one strong, dominating company -> low employee mobility (not much choice), hence low inter-networking - people who move to a new country/city and know no one there (or people whose friends tend leave to other countries, hence the networks are not that useful either) There are only a handful of developer hubs in the world, many people work in other circumstances and might not have an extensive networks, which is neglected here.