

Ask HN: Who, What, Where, Why? - DamonOehlman
https://plus.google.com/110024759279361022311/posts/7Ff4CUkPWJb

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plinkplonk
These are the questions, for anyone who can't be bothered to look at a
spreadsheet and fill it in.

(1)What - 'What technologies do you want to work with fulltime?'

(2) Who - 'Which companies inspire you and send a message that makes you think
you would like to work with or for them?'

(3) Where - 'If you could work anywhere in the world, where would that be?'

(4) Why - 'So what are the factors that influenced your answers'?

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coenhyde
Filled out the form. In summary:

I'm from Brisbane/Australia and I will be moving to the USA one way or other
soon. The few trips I have made over there have really opened my eyes to the
opportunities that exist that just are not here.

It's mainly about networking and social support. The old age saying of "it's
not what you know, it's who you know" is still very valid. In Brisbane we just
don't have any successful startups (at least that stayed in Brisbane) to
provide advice/connections.

Plus it is awesome to be surrounded by awesome people doing awesome things,
that's what I'm looking forward to most.

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DamonOehlman
Thanks to all who contributed responses, it has been quite interesting to see
what people have written. While this is only a small sample of responses I've
gone through and identified mentions of companies where people have expressed
an interest in working:

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApWuKfEFYQ6YdEd...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApWuKfEFYQ6YdEdlOGdORkJsamJ6VjFNN0UwTDY1YXc#gid=1)

Interestingly, Google appear to be one of the places that people would still
most like to work, although one respondent did indicate that as of six months
ago Google would no longer be considered.

From a personal perspective, I found the following also interesting:

\- While a few people were interested in working at GitHub, it's less than I
would have expected.

\- Khan Academy (and other accessible learning solutions) have people's
attention

\- I was the only person that indicated that working for Mozilla would be
something they would like to do. Not sure why this is.

Anyway, it's if you still want to submit a response, that would be awesome,
and the survey form is available at the following url:

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEdlOGd...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEdlOGdORkJsamJ6VjFNN0UwTDY1YXc6MQ#gid=1)

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bengl3rt
Done. Looking forward to seeing the other responses pile up!

One thing I'd like to know is how much of the things we perceive externally
about a company on account of their messaging/reputation are actually true -
I've had a couple of jobs that ended up being radically different from what
was advertised. My new policy is to always connect with current and former
employees on LinkedIn/Twitter/over beer to find out what it's really like.

~~~
DamonOehlman
Also I really identify with what you put in the "Why" column. Are there any
particular companies in your list that you feel match this more than others?

~~~
bengl3rt
Hmm, I feel like Acunu and Mixpanel would let me focus on my first love
(C/systems hacking), Acunu and Fastly would let me be the most active in open
source, and ThoughtWorks would have the most travel (that's right, folks, I
actually _want_ to travel for business - I like going places but vacations
bore me).

This is all conjecture of course as I've worked at exactly 0 of the places
I've listed :)

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pfraze
Somebody should use this data set in a game to crowd-guess attributes of the
submitters. This guy is 21, those three smoke habitually, that guy has beard.

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ianstormtaylor
The spreadsheet would benefit from the same descriptions the form has. Was
very confused when I skipped the form.

~~~
DamonOehlman
Thanks for the feedback Ian - I'll add those now.

