The hottest Hiring Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

My (deeply stressful) big tech interview grind

Jacob’s Tech Tavern • 2842 implied HN points • 03 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. High-quality indie content can attract subscribers and partnerships, but running a solo digital business has real costs and runway risks that often require a more stable income source or sponsorships.
  2. The tech job market is healthy for experienced native iOS engineers with many AI startups and established companies hiring, but FAANG roles are limited outside major US cities so you need to be strategic about locations and targets.
  3. Treat job-hunting like a project: optimise your CV, nail recruiter screens, practice coding rounds and take-homes, and use disciplined tracking and iteration to improve interview pass rates while protecting your mental energy.

The Job Market Doesn’t Care If You Don't Believe in AI

The Algorithmic Bridge • 583 implied HN points • 19 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. The job market now expects AI fluency in many roles, so not learning basic AI skills can seriously harm your employability regardless of your personal beliefs.
  2. AI-related job postings and roles have grown dramatically and employers are paying a significant wage premium for candidates who list AI skills on their résumés.
  3. Many listings are aspirational and productivity gains are still debated, but companies aren’t widely training employees, so you should proactively learn AI tools to stay competitive.

The Bet On Juniors Just Got Better

Software Design: Tidy First? • 3645 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Manage juniors for learning, not immediate production; focus your expectations and feedback on accelerating their skills so they reach profitability sooner.
  2. AI coding assistants can dramatically compress the learning curve by surfacing options and collapsing search time, letting juniors complete tasks faster and use freed time to learn deeper tradeoffs.
  3. Those gains only happen with intentional investment in tooling, coaching, and an "augmented coding" culture, and faster ramps multiply value because ramped developers mentor others and create leverage across the team.

Thoughts on the job market in the age of LLMs

Democratizing Automation • 720 implied HN points • 30 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Senior engineers and researchers who can steer complex LLM systems and provide long-term vision are hugely valuable, and their impact often outpaces adding more junior people.
  2. Junior candidates need a near-obsessive focus on making measurable progress and deep ownership in a narrow area, plus clear evidence (good evaluations, strong results) or they risk being replaced by tooling.
  3. Getting hired depends on alignment and signals: public writing, meaningful open-source work, and well-crafted cold emails help you stand out, while poor signals (many middle-author papers or low-quality AI-generated posts) hurt, and cultural fit matters as much as raw ability.

Remote Work's Impact on Productivity

Arpitrage • 1097 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Remote work affects firms differently by age: it tends to boost productivity at young startups but reduce productivity at older, established firms. This means the average effect looks small but hides large differences across companies.
  2. Remote work removes geographic hiring frictions for startups, letting them recruit talent from many places, grow faster, and improve worker–firm matching. Those hiring and matching gains explain much of the productivity lift for startups.
  3. Big firms face coordination and retention challenges with remote work, which helps explain pushes to return to the office, while remote-first startups help spread innovation beyond major city hubs and increase business dynamism.
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The Startup CFO

Points And Figures • 426 implied HN points • 12 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. In the very early days founders handle finance with simple tools like QuickBooks and often hire fractional CFOs to standardize books rather than making a full-time hire.
  2. Startups should prioritize product, engineering, and sales to find product‑market fit because finance is rarely a growth engine in the early stages.
  3. Around $10M ARR you need an in‑house CFO to professionalize finance for fundraising or an IPO; seasoned CFOs bring networks and roadshow experience, and a self‑styled ‘CFO’ at Series A or earlier is a red flag.

SAT Scores vs. On-the-Job Performance

Generating Conversation • 163 implied HN points • 26 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Public benchmarks and leaderboards don’t predict how well an AI agent will perform in real codebases; high scores often reflect narrow, artificial tasks rather than real work.
  2. Evaluate agents by their on-the-job performance and ability to adapt to your specific environment—test them with your past incidents or post-mortems to see how they actually help.
  3. Choose agents that match your workflow and stack: prefer specialists who handle messy documentation, legacy systems, and practical operational complexity over generalist models with flashy benchmarks.

How We Hire at Clipboard

Creating Value from Nothing • 291 implied HN points • 05 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. They hire for skill over resume polish by using role-relevant exercises and case studies so candidates can show real work instead of relying on proxies like past titles.
  2. The process is intentionally clear and structured, with written prompts and expectations shared up front so candidates know the effort required and can decide if it’s a fit.
  3. Culture fit means thriving in a high-ownership environment—show clarity, judgment, and follow-through in your case work, and explain your reasoning and assumptions more than chasing a single ‘right’ answer.

Taking just one step too far

Leading Developers • 84 implied HN points • 24 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Pushing a little beyond normal social or organizational boundaries often gets things done and can lead to better outcomes than staying overly timid.
  2. Deliberately testing that extra step helps you learn where the real limits are, because different people and orgs tolerate different levels of push.
  3. Keep it to just one extra step, watch reactions, learn from feedback, and preface risky moves so you can dial back quickly if needed.

Finding Career Fit For An AI Age.

The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past • 75 implied HN points • 22 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Personality (PQ) will matter more in the AI age than past measures alone, because traits like agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and emotional stability help predict career fit and future success.
  2. Constant reinvention and the ability to learn and unlearn are essential; success depends on being smart at learning, having drive to do the work, and being likable enough to collaborate with humans and AI.
  3. Work is shifting from fixed jobs to flexible opportunities, so a persistent career blueprint based on PQ helps individuals and companies match roles to who someone truly is rather than just their resume.

Growth Of a Startup

Points And Figures • 612 implied HN points • 10 Dec 25
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Early-stage investing is as much about people as ideas. Backing founders early can pay off even if the initial product or market fails.
  2. The founders adapted after COVID destroyed their original ride-share insurance business, pivoted successfully, and raised follow-on VC. They also built a high-quality team and grew as leaders.
  3. Seel has scaled into major partnerships with big insurers and is hiring aggressively. They are addressing a massive market and look positioned for significant growth.

Profile: Ryan Reynolds and Owning the Outcome

Creating Value from Nothing • 132 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Own inbound sales end-to-end by building systems that route leads quickly and make signing up simple, so growth doesn’t stall.
  2. Solve root causes instead of surface symptoms by creating repeatable workflows, clear handoffs, and measurable definitions of “good” so the team doesn't rely on heroics.
  3. A scrappy, cross-functional culture with a bias toward action and rituals that celebrate gritty execution helps teams move fast, learn from outcomes, and sustain improvements.

Abolish HR

antoniomelonio • 168 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. HR mainly exists to protect management and the company from legal and reputational risk, not to serve applicants or employees.
  2. HR processes are often incompetent and harmful: they rely on keywords, gut feelings, and bureaucratic rituals that misassess skills, ghost candidates, and amplify bias.
  3. Hiring should be led by the people who do the work, with transparent, audited tools that evaluate real skills and give feedback — in short, abolish performative HR and replace it with accountable systems.

Man over Machine: Why AI Firms Are Hiring Writers

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 361 implied HN points • 16 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. AI and tech companies are hiring more in-house writers right now instead of relying only on automated text.
  2. Storytelling has become one of the most valuable business skills, with human-written narratives prized for branding and communication.
  3. Even though AI might eventually automate writing, companies currently prefer human writers for voice, nuance, and higher-quality content.

From Bushwackers to F1 Drivers: Evolving Employee Types as Startups Scale

Gad’s Newsletter • 47 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Startups need different people as they grow: bushwackers to invent in chaos, off-road drivers to stabilize and scale, and F1 drivers to optimize and run at high efficiency.
  2. The biggest scaling mistake is hiring the right people for the wrong stage — add structure at the right time and integrate new roles carefully so you don’t smother innovation or collapse under chaos.
  3. Even mature companies must preserve some exploratory teams and have leaders translate between archetypes so experimentation and process coexist and each group is rewarded appropriately.

($) Forward Deployed Engineer: the Job that Makes AI Real

Interconnected • 169 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Forward deployed engineers (FDEs) are the on-the-ground builders who turn AI models into working systems inside large enterprises and governments, handling integration, customization, and deployment.
  2. FDEs are scarce and highly sought after, so companies are rapidly expanding FDE teams and partnering with global system integrators to scale capacity and meet enterprise demand.
  3. The FDE function originated in firms like Palantir and has become a core, strategic role that many AI labs now prioritize to drive real-world adoption of their technology.

A Tech Interview that Doesn't Suck

Jacob’s Tech Tavern • 2186 implied HN points • 02 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Hiring great team members is really important because it affects everyone's work speed. Good hires help the team, while bad ones slow everyone down.
  2. Many tech companies rely on LeetCode tests to screen candidates, but this method might not show true skills. There could be better ways to assess coding abilities.
  3. Finding a more effective hiring process can improve how companies choose candidates, leading to better outcomes for teams. It's all about making informed decisions.

#44: Thought Experiment 2 - Why ever not AI SDRs?

OSS.fund Newsletter • 56 implied HN points • 15 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. AI agents can qualify leads, personalize outreach, and book meetings faster and more reliably than junior SDRs.
  2. AI SDR platforms cost far less and ramp in weeks instead of months, so automate qualification and redeploy junior reps to relationship-building, strategic deal work, and account management.
  3. Audit your SDR activity to tag rules-based versus high-touch opportunities; if most qualification is automatable, freeing that time will speed learning, improve retention, and raise win rates.

Real Rooney Rule Has Never Been Tried!

House of Strauss • 28 implied HN points • 03 Feb 26
🎾 Sports Hiring
  1. NFL media and insiders are again focused on racial representation after this hiring cycle produced no Black head coaches.
  2. Critics say the Rooney Rule and the league’s racial-bureaucracy approach are flawed and haven’t been truly tested, so the NFL should rethink how it handles race in hiring.
  3. Race labels are messy—cases like Mike McDaniel show that official definitions don’t match public perception, which makes the whole system feel arbitrary.

Analyst reactions: How AI is reshaping engineering organizations

Engineering Enablement • 11 implied HN points • 18 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Hiring is shifting toward AI‑fluent roles like “AI Engineer,” and companies are putting much more emphasis on code quality because AI makes writing code easier but often produces sloppy output that reviewers must catch.
  2. Early, fragmented AI experiments are being centralized into platform-level models (AI Centers of Excellence or hub-and-spoke), so platform teams now own governance, orchestration, and making AI a standard developer tool.
  3. A new operational layer—LLMOps—is emerging to run models, ship integrations, and create reusable prompts, while human challenges like security training, unclear ROI, and uncontrolled developer experimentation remain the biggest risks.

Don't just apply, opt-in

Creating Value from Nothing • 662 implied HN points • 27 Jan 25
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Candidates can experience the company culture firsthand by attending events like the Super Weekend. This allows them to see what working there is really like.
  2. Meeting actual customers and solving real-world problems helps potential hires understand the company's mission and approach better.
  3. The company commits to hosting regular Super Weekends to attract talented individuals and let them see how great the team is. It's a chance for candidates to really opt-in rather than just applying.

One trick to better your freelancing

Kenny’s Sub • 179 implied HN points • 25 Mar 24
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Hiring others can really help your freelancing business. It lets you see how different people work and what good service looks like.
  2. The way freelancers respond to your messages says a lot about them. Good communication is key and helps you decide who to hire.
  3. Keep your job postings clear and ask simple questions. This helps filter out freelancers who aren't paying attention to what you need.

6 founders sharing their mistakes & tips going from 0-1

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 56 implied HN points • 23 Nov 25
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Focus on one clear, painful problem and validate it with real paying customers before you scale. Do regular discovery, prioritize their feedback, and keep iterating until you reach product–market fit.
  2. Own and double down on reliable go-to-market channels instead of depending on rented platforms; build community, integrations, referrals, and launch often. Start manually (onboarding, outreach) to learn what works, then scale the proven plays.
  3. Hire and structure the team smartly and keep product craftsmanship disciplined: bring in senior people early, avoid premature VP titles, be ruthless about hires, and pay down tech debt. Keep onboarding and pricing simple so customers don’t get overwhelmed.

One bottleneck at a time

The Engineering Manager • 21 implied HN points • 14 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Every system has one primary bottleneck at a time; improving other parts just creates more work waiting, so focus on the single constraint that limits throughput.
  2. Put your best people and attention on the ugly but critical work and subordinate everything else to fixing the bottleneck, even if it hurts short-term optics—this requires courage but yields real impact.
  3. Find where work piles up, take actionable steps to remove that constraint, measure progress, and then repeat the cycle at team, department, and company levels.

How to Interview Like a Pro

Perspectives • 11 implied HN points • 23 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Interviewing is a distinct skill separate from doing the job, so practice how you communicate and structure answers until you can clearly show your fit.
  2. Prepare a small bank of adaptable stories that prove failure, leadership, influence, and impact, and tailor those stories to what each company values.
  3. Focus on what the interviewer actually hears—connect first, show judgment, pause to collect your thoughts when needed, and help them imagine you already owning the problem.

Mercenaries versus Missionaries in the startup world

Respectful Leadership • 163 implied HN points • 14 Jun 25
💼 Business Hiring
  1. In the startup world, it’s important to hire people who are passionate about the mission, known as 'missionaries.' They care deeply about making a difference.
  2. Hiring based on resumes alone isn't enough. It's better to focus on why candidates are motivated and their true potential.
  3. Embracing ambiguity can actually lead to innovative solutions. Startups should encourage working freely without strict guidelines.

NonZero is Hiring!

Nonzero Newsletter • 327 implied HN points • 07 Jan 25
💼 Business Hiring
  1. NonZero is expanding and looking to hire new team members, including a full-time journalist and part-time social media specialist. They want people passionate about important global topics.
  2. The organization aims to cover a wide range of subjects, like technology, psychology, and international relations, to foster collaboration and reduce conflicts. Their mission is about helping people find common ground.
  3. They encourage creative applicants who can bring unique skills to support their mission. If you think you can help, even in ways beyond their listed jobs, they welcome your ideas.

Duct Tape

Lessons • 196 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Building a team after finding success is like patching holes in a leaky bucket.
  2. Prioritize hiring anchor leaders based on long-term importance and areas where duct tape won't suffice.
  3. Use duct tape solutions like interim leaders to fill temporary gaps while focusing on key leadership searches.

🐿️ The Leadership Heist - The Insanely Profitable Tech Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 3 implied HN points • 06 Feb 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Treat your executive team like a heist ensemble. Choose leaders whose talents complement each other so the group can execute complex plans smoothly.
  2. Prefer generalizing specialists (T-shaped people) who can step into multiple roles and back others up. Develop them on the job or assign multiple portfolios rather than hiring only narrow experts.
  3. Hire for low ego, title-blindness, and a willingness to pitch in, because the best hires often don’t match every line on the job spec. Be prepared to sift through candidates and make the most of the skills you find.

Webflow's Playbook for Hiring Engineers in the AI era | with Akash Jain (Senior Engineering Manager at Webflow) & Sargun Kaur (CEO at Byteboard)

platocommunity • 59 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Hiring
  1. Hiring engineers in the AI era can involve a non-binary approach, offering more flexibility in recruitment processes.
  2. The post discusses engineering leadership, providing in-depth and actionable insights on topics like architecture, engineering efficiency, migrations, and developer productivity.
  3. Access to the full article about Webflow's playbook for hiring engineers in the AI era requires a paid subscription.

For the Love of God, Bring Back Blind Hiring Processes

I Might Be Wrong • 8 implied HN points • 31 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Hiring
  1. The entertainment industry publicly and actively prioritized hiring more women and non-white people in recent years, with companies and unions changing policies and incentives to do so.
  2. Calling rejected white men ‘not talented enough’ sidesteps the problem because talent is subjective and often unknowable, so that argument doesn’t resolve claims of discrimination.
  3. Bringing back blind hiring processes would help reduce identity-based bias and make hiring decisions focus more on the work itself, which could feel fairer to everyone.

Learning operations & hiring, the tech-enabled agency model, Bangkok, ...

Play Permissionless • 119 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Learning new skills like hiring and operations can be challenging but rewarding, especially during the initial phases.
  2. When hiring, it's essential to focus on quality over cost, especially in the beginning. Western-educated talent may require higher pay but can deliver better results with less micromanagement.
  3. Running a tech-enabled agency model can be a successful business approach. Leveraging internal tools for client success can be more impactful than turning them into public SaaS products.

Overcoming the frustration of not knowing whether AI will replace your job

Prawfeed Newsletter • 4 implied HN points • 13 Jan 26
💼 Business Hiring
  1. AI uncertainty is real, but you can separate what’s unknowable (like company adoption or regulation) from what you can learn (which tasks are automatable and how your workplace is changing).
  2. Technology usually changes tasks before it eliminates whole jobs, so make your work AI-complementary by owning judgment, handling exceptions, and adding one or two adjacent skills like data basics or clearer communication.
  3. Use a small set of signals and a simple 2–4 week review cadence to stay responsive without obsessing, let AI reduce your mental load, and reframe the question from “will I be replaced?” to “how will my tasks change?”

How to hire & get hired in 2026: The guide to the Gen Marketer skillset

MKT1 Newsletter • 8 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Marketers need to become 'Gen Marketers' by blending generalist skills with specific expertise to stay relevant in 2026. It's not just about knowing one area well anymore.
  2. To succeed in marketing, you should run campaigns that are different from others, move quickly and adapt to changes, and use multiple channels effectively. Creativity and speed are key.
  3. Networking is crucial for finding jobs and candidates. Engaging with others in the industry through social media or events can open doors for opportunities.

Navigating Culture in a Scaling Startup

Suzan's Fieldnotes • 58 implied HN points • 17 Apr 23
💼 Business Hiring
  1. Startups thrive in chaos and rapid change, which can be exciting for those who enjoy a fast pace and quick growth.
  2. Communicating effectively in a rapidly scaling startup requires balancing speed and quality, ensuring team-wide understanding and coordination.
  3. Guiding culture during rapid growth involves hiring for cultural fit, seeking feedback from peers, and finding leadership support that empowers and believes in you.