Which company would you prefer to join?
30 comments
·June 18, 2025WhyIsItAlwaysHN
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noelwelsh
Weird that the reasons don't include anything about the actual work. The work I envisage doing is a much more important reason than, say, prestige to me.
jakewins
Primary reason for my choices was I didn’t want the other company.
Do I want to work for Instacart? Not really. Do I prefer working for Instacart over Tesla? Well, I’d rather go back to hand digging trenches in the rain than work for Tesla, so yeah I prefer Instacart.
bayindirh
Yeah, same for me. Choosing the less bad one.
neilv
Same here.
The first ~10 companies I saw were a dumpster fire.
I think that US companies in general are better on average than this.
furk
It also mentions “remote” as a reason as if I know which companies allow remote work by heart.
tdeck
Ethics is also a big one for me but seems to be missing.
scarface_74
I mean for either company you are going to be helping a company to chase profits. There is nothing wrong with that. But let’s not pretend there is a deeper meaning to work than to exchange labor for money. None of these companies will see you as any more than a number. The only deciding factor would be remote work and money.
noelwelsh
This is the weird Homo economicus take that pops up quite often on HN. It shouldn't be surprising that some people want more than just money from the place where they spend half or more of their waking life. You can just check the comments here to see some of the reasons that people work, beyond money.
poisonborz
Would need an option "to not join the other" when asking why.
probably_wrong
I'd also like an option for "I'd rather be unemployed".
globular-toast
Yep. Every time a "trading" company came up like Jane Street my only option was to select the other.
neilv
Clicking on the top companies on the leaderboard, top reason given for most wins is Prestige (over Compensation, Mission, Career Growth, etc.).
I wonder how accurate that self-reporting is.
How many of the people saying Prestige are thinking career growth? What does prestige get you that's more important than career growth? (Consolation prize for parents who wanted you to become a doctor?)
strken
I got LinkedIn and Ramp. I've never heard of Ramp in my life. I bet all the actual results for Ramp are buried under a mountain of people who clicked companies with a more widespread brand and then clicked prestige because it's the closest thing to "I have no idea who the other option is".
neilv
Great theory.
omegabravo
I don't know what two companies pay, so I clicked two based on reputation and work. If I knew one paid more, I would have absolutely chosen that.
TrackerFF
Should maybe add "brand recognition" or something like that.
Some of these companies, I only know by name. And if I'm stuck between two unknown companies, I'll go with the one that I've seen the most. Not really prestige, but because their branding / exposure / whatever.
Philpax
Wow. The selection of companies is dire. I can't say I'd want to work for any of the companies I saw within the first ten rounds.
absoluteunit1
My thoughts exactly haha
nottorp
"Which company would you prefer to join if you had extensive info about all those companies" would be a more appropriate title.
I clicked hoping it's some sort of quiz about what i prefer to work on and how work is done, that will eventually recommend me a few companies.
Surac
you forget one option: non of them. all are soulless and burn people to make money with products not needed
Mashimo
Hard to say when I don't know the details. I prefer Work Life Balance and the people, but how would I know if MongoDB .. or whoever, is a fit?
maxehmookau
"Tesla or TikTok" ....yeesh
You might want to add a simple description of each company. I don't know half of them and in this dopamine shot optimized format, I don't really have the patience to research every one of them in a different tab.