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They may not get a lot of applicants, but at least they are being honest with the job description.

dccoolgai 13y ago
It's Penny Arcade. Even with the stern warnings laced into the advert, they'll get too many applications to sort through. They are the literal purveyors of geek cred....this is the geek version of "Devil Wears Prada". If I lived in Seattle, I might even think about applying.
- stygiansonic 13y ago
  Can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but I think the "geek cred" thing would wear thin pretty fast after having no work-life balance and being paid below-market for what your abilities are.
  - ath0 13y ago
    People are motivated by different things. "Below market" only matters if you judge yourself by how much you're paid compared to your peers. "Having no work-life balance" assumes that your "life" doesn't benefit from "work" in ways other than the size of your paycheck. If you already have a house/apartment you like and will still be able to afford with this job, find the work you're doing interesting, have the appreciation of your co-workers and the freedom to do your work the way you want (because no one else who works there is an IT person); if you find playing video games with colleagues a reasonable facsimile of "life"; if being a visible member of a team that has a youtube channel with 10s of thousands of subscribers who look up to them is more important than owning a bigger TV; then this job may be worthwhile for you. And why is it a problem that someone would rather have those things than a salary at market rates, or an ability to go home at 5pm and spend time with their family not thinking about work?
  - timje1 13y ago
    You're correct, but that doesn't stop hordes of qualified nerds from charging into the meatgrinder that is the games development industry. You mean I get to make games for a living, as long as I'm happy to be paid in popcorn and work 18 hour days? Where do I sign?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- bcoates 13y ago
  In "The Devil Wears Prada" aren't the employees all entry-level, trying to break into a competitive industry? This application is confusing because they're demanding several years of professional experience on a large-scale website deployment for a job that would be most appealing to someone who didn't have that yet.
  - dccoolgai 13y ago
    I can't believe someone else on HN saw "Prada"... but yeah, from what I can remember. The other thing, though, was that the employees were willing to put up with a lot of BS just because of the cultural cachet of that magazine where they worked. I'm saying that same kind of cachet that PA has is why someone who is way overqualified would want to work there for peanuts...now mind you, I'm not saying it's a good idea or that I would do it (although after years of web dev and support, I would be eminently qualified) - but I would wager they get swamped with qualified candidates just because they are who they are.
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      Pedantic, perhaps, but the word you are looking for is "cachet", not "cache". They have very different meanings.
      - dccoolgai 13y ago
        Correct. Thank you for catching the typo.
pjungwir 13y ago
I thought this was the opposite of honest, actually: > we’re not a terribly money-motivated group If they aren't money-motivated, wouldn't they pay an above-average salary? They're spinning their cheapness as a virtue. I guess at least they feel uncomfortable enough to make excuses for the low salary: hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue.
- derefr 13y ago
  I took that to mean "we haven't actually done much to exploit our extremely well-travelled site for profit, so we don't have as much money to go around as you'd think."
- scrabble 13y ago
  I followed their comics and news posts for years, and it seems like Khoo, Gabe, and Tycho are quite well off. Seems like maybe they just don't want to share the wealth.

It's Penny Arcade. Even with the stern warnings laced into the advert, they'll get too many applications to sort through. They are the literal purveyors of geek cred....this is the geek version of "Devil Wears Prada". If I lived in Seattle, I might even think about applying.

stygiansonic 13y ago
Can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but I think the "geek cred" thing would wear thin pretty fast after having no work-life balance and being paid below-market for what your abilities are.
- ath0 13y ago
  People are motivated by different things. "Below market" only matters if you judge yourself by how much you're paid compared to your peers. "Having no work-life balance" assumes that your "life" doesn't benefit from "work" in ways other than the size of your paycheck. If you already have a house/apartment you like and will still be able to afford with this job, find the work you're doing interesting, have the appreciation of your co-workers and the freedom to do your work the way you want (because no one else who works there is an IT person); if you find playing video games with colleagues a reasonable facsimile of "life"; if being a visible member of a team that has a youtube channel with 10s of thousands of subscribers who look up to them is more important than owning a bigger TV; then this job may be worthwhile for you. And why is it a problem that someone would rather have those things than a salary at market rates, or an ability to go home at 5pm and spend time with their family not thinking about work?
- timje1 13y ago
  You're correct, but that doesn't stop hordes of qualified nerds from charging into the meatgrinder that is the games development industry. You mean I get to make games for a living, as long as I'm happy to be paid in popcorn and work 18 hour days? Where do I sign?
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
bcoates 13y ago
In "The Devil Wears Prada" aren't the employees all entry-level, trying to break into a competitive industry? This application is confusing because they're demanding several years of professional experience on a large-scale website deployment for a job that would be most appealing to someone who didn't have that yet.
- dccoolgai 13y ago
  I can't believe someone else on HN saw "Prada"... but yeah, from what I can remember. The other thing, though, was that the employees were willing to put up with a lot of BS just because of the cultural cachet of that magazine where they worked. I'm saying that same kind of cachet that PA has is why someone who is way overqualified would want to work there for peanuts...now mind you, I'm not saying it's a good idea or that I would do it (although after years of web dev and support, I would be eminently qualified) - but I would wager they get swamped with qualified candidates just because they are who they are.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    Pedantic, perhaps, but the word you are looking for is "cachet", not "cache". They have very different meanings.
    - dccoolgai 13y ago
      Correct. Thank you for catching the typo.

pjungwir 13y ago

I thought this was the opposite of honest, actually: > we’re not a terribly money-motivated group If they aren't money-motivated, wouldn't they pay an above-average salary? They're spinning their cheapness as a virtue. I guess at least they feel uncomfortable enough to make excuses for the low salary: hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue.

derefr 13y ago
I took that to mean "we haven't actually done much to exploit our extremely well-travelled site for profit, so we don't have as much money to go around as you'd think."
scrabble 13y ago
I followed their comics and news posts for years, and it seems like Khoo, Gabe, and Tycho are quite well off. Seems like maybe they just don't want to share the wealth.