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Hey HN, want a side project idea that's easy, and would be a huge hit? Make a web crawler that hits publicly traded tech companies careers page, once a day, an

Hey HN, want a side project idea that's easy, and would be a huge hit? Make a web crawler that hits publicly traded tech companies careers page, once a day, and tracks how often their job listings change. Make a big line chart at the top of a landing page that compares the different companies job openings (by count), over time. Penalize listings that list/delete/re-list job openings to always make it seem like they are hiring. Maybe have a max time a job post can be open before it's no longer part of their count (3 months?) What you'll end up showing is similar to this article: A lot of company's stock is evaluated on growth, and part of the growth estimation is based on how much they are hiring in this down market. Some companies know this, and are trying to game the system Anyways, I bet a decent amount of people would watch that like a hawk, and the honest companies would love it because it would show how great they really are doing

sva_ 2y ago
Companies will sometimes post job ads even if they're not looking for someone, I suspect
- bluGill 2y ago
  That happens because they want to look like growth opprtunities even if they are not growing.
  - jlarocco 2y ago
    Maybe, but not always. My company keeps a req open on the off chance somebody in the domain (CAD data translation) will see it and apply. It's a small enough niche that if somebody with the right skillset comes along we'd like a chance to hire them, even if we're not in dire need of people at that particular moment. I guess technically we're passively looking.
    - bluGill 2y ago
      You are hiring. The companies I'm talking about are not looking at any resumes they get in.
    - whaleofatw2022 2y ago
      In other shops it is sometimes used as a safety if someone spontaneously decides to go.. one local place puts out lots of feeler reqs around bonus time (as that is when most jump)
devwastaken 2y ago
The most incorrect assumption about stock is the idea that it's based on reason of metrics and evidence. In reality it is orchestrated by handshaking of existing wealth. Value is whatever they want it to be. What would happen is the information goes ignored for the corps in good graces, and used negatively for the ones already going under as a small bullet point. If you want markets based on sane economics this isn't the one to be in.
forgetfreeman 2y ago
Tell me how to monetize that and I'll start coding tonight.
- hn72774 2y ago
  Prove securities fraud as a whistleblower and get a portion of the recovered amount. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/whistleblower-program https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/whistleblower-pro...
- throw0012 2y ago
  Dont even try. APP cant even attract few users a day let alone making money.
- jarsin 2y ago
  Two ways 1) Provide a paid service for users to get more pro level insights. Targeted at job seekers who don't want to waste time. 2) Expand into a job board where only companies that pledge not to engage in such tactics can advertise.
- aarreedd 2y ago
  Sell the data to hedge funds. I saw a company selling this data at an alternative data conference a few months ago. I can't remember of the name of the company but if you message me I'll find it.
teractiveodular 2y ago
I've worked at a large company where the job portal showed open roles in chronological order, newest to oldest, so recruiters would constantly delete and repost unfilled roles to get them back up top for a while.
Terr_ 2y ago
Working in some hiring-tech stuff right now, there are systems where the business-domain/database-model explicitly incorporates "evergreen" job postings, meaning ones that are left up constantly often because the company really is always hiring due to high turnover. In other words, there are some legitimate reasons for a job posting to be indefinite, even if it doesn't seem common for software engineering jobs in particular.
- PhasmaFelis 2y ago
  If a company has that much perpetual churn, it's a bad sign, even if it's not the same bad sign.
  - timthelion 2y ago
    What about the typical college summer jobs? Those have high turnover and that is expected.
  - manquer 2y ago
    there are plenty of industries that revolve around seasonal jobs. Retail, tourism, sports, entertainment, agriculture or even politics. Churn could mean many things, not necessarily a bad sign
- rainclouds 2y ago
  Also tons of places that interview then say they don’t have a slot. Seems too easy to be abused.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  If it doesn't explicitly say it's an evergreen/non-urgent position, I'd still penalize it. But sure, that doesn't happen often in tech because they would hire a consultant or a specialized contractor for such roles of its necessary and very specialized.
ordx 2y ago
If a company pays peanuts it can have a job opening for much longer than 3 months.
ryandrake 2y ago
I had some code partially written that did this with the HN API. I was going to call it "Who's Not Hiring?" and find/call out companies that had the same job posting week after week. Got bored and never finished it.

sva_ 2y ago

Companies will sometimes post job ads even if they're not looking for someone, I suspect

bluGill 2y ago
That happens because they want to look like growth opprtunities even if they are not growing.
- jlarocco 2y ago
  Maybe, but not always. My company keeps a req open on the off chance somebody in the domain (CAD data translation) will see it and apply. It's a small enough niche that if somebody with the right skillset comes along we'd like a chance to hire them, even if we're not in dire need of people at that particular moment. I guess technically we're passively looking.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    You are hiring. The companies I'm talking about are not looking at any resumes they get in.
  - whaleofatw2022 2y ago
    In other shops it is sometimes used as a safety if someone spontaneously decides to go.. one local place puts out lots of feeler reqs around bonus time (as that is when most jump)

devwastaken 2y ago

The most incorrect assumption about stock is the idea that it's based on reason of metrics and evidence. In reality it is orchestrated by handshaking of existing wealth. Value is whatever they want it to be. What would happen is the information goes ignored for the corps in good graces, and used negatively for the ones already going under as a small bullet point. If you want markets based on sane economics this isn't the one to be in.

forgetfreeman 2y ago

Tell me how to monetize that and I'll start coding tonight.

hn72774 2y ago
Prove securities fraud as a whistleblower and get a portion of the recovered amount. https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/whistleblower-program https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/whistleblower-pro...
throw0012 2y ago
Dont even try. APP cant even attract few users a day let alone making money.
jarsin 2y ago
Two ways 1) Provide a paid service for users to get more pro level insights. Targeted at job seekers who don't want to waste time. 2) Expand into a job board where only companies that pledge not to engage in such tactics can advertise.
aarreedd 2y ago
Sell the data to hedge funds. I saw a company selling this data at an alternative data conference a few months ago. I can't remember of the name of the company but if you message me I'll find it.

teractiveodular 2y ago

I've worked at a large company where the job portal showed open roles in chronological order, newest to oldest, so recruiters would constantly delete and repost unfilled roles to get them back up top for a while.

Terr_ 2y ago

Working in some hiring-tech stuff right now, there are systems where the business-domain/database-model explicitly incorporates "evergreen" job postings, meaning ones that are left up constantly often because the company really is always hiring due to high turnover. In other words, there are some legitimate reasons for a job posting to be indefinite, even if it doesn't seem common for software engineering jobs in particular.

PhasmaFelis 2y ago
If a company has that much perpetual churn, it's a bad sign, even if it's not the same bad sign.
- timthelion 2y ago
  What about the typical college summer jobs? Those have high turnover and that is expected.
- manquer 2y ago
  there are plenty of industries that revolve around seasonal jobs. Retail, tourism, sports, entertainment, agriculture or even politics. Churn could mean many things, not necessarily a bad sign
rainclouds 2y ago
Also tons of places that interview then say they don’t have a slot. Seems too easy to be abused.
johnnyanmac 2y ago
If it doesn't explicitly say it's an evergreen/non-urgent position, I'd still penalize it. But sure, that doesn't happen often in tech because they would hire a consultant or a specialized contractor for such roles of its necessary and very specialized.

ordx 2y ago

If a company pays peanuts it can have a job opening for much longer than 3 months.

ryandrake 2y ago

I had some code partially written that did this with the HN API. I was going to call it "Who's Not Hiring?" and find/call out companies that had the same job posting week after week. Got bored and never finished it.