HN Explorer

Ask HN: Why are all the big tech companies reaching out all at once?

11 points by throwaway203482 ↗ HN
Hi HN,

I have been a software developer for 2 years, all at the same company. Last week, I got asked to interview for a position at Google. I was stoked, took the phone interview a few days ago. Today, I got emails from both Microsoft and Amazon.

This can't be a coincidence - why have these tech companies decided to reach out to me now of all times?

This sounds crazy, but the only thing I can think of is that I had a tweet go lowest-key viral among a subgroup of a subgroup associated with tech.

Does anyone with knowledge of Big Tech recruiting know what's going on?

21 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 64.0 ms ] thread
LinuxBender
My first step would be to ask the Google recruiter/manager where they obtained your information. That is likely the same place the others obtained it but that is a guess. Do you have a linked-in account?
version_five
I had two of FAANG reach out in very close proximity recently as well (and I had not had them contact me in the past). No insight as to why, it may be just a coincidence, or maybe they have all been doing a hiring push recently and casting a wider net to adjusting their search criteria
t0suj4
The odd coordination makes it look like a scam.
t-3
Just speculating, but in this age of big data, maybe they or a recruiter somehow knew you were a developer, and you recently passed some milestone (years of experience?) that put you onto their radar?
WalterGR
Coincidence.
throwaway203482
Two companies reaching out at the same time, I would agree with you. But three seems outside the realm of possibility, or at least, probability.
CogitoCogito
> Two companies reaching out at the same time, I would agree with you. But three seems outside the realm of possibility, or at least, probability.

There's no support for your claims. You know neither the probabilities involved nor the number of individuals contacted by these companies. You have no reason not to believe this isn't a coincidence.

edit: It's funny to receive downvotes for a statement so devoid of opinion and so obviously mathematically/statistically correct.

WalterGR
It would be easy to calculate for someone who - unlike me - remembers something from their stats / probability class(es).

Assume that all 3 companies reach out yearly. They each reach out during a randomly chosen week. What's the probability that they will all reach out in a 2-week span?

CogitoCogito
Yes _if_ you know the probability distributions, then it _would_ be easy to calculate. But you _don't_. You can't assume your way away from that.
MiddleEndian
I can say that while I was interviewing at Amazon not too long ago, during the interview process, Amazon reached out to me. After much deliberation, I took a position with Amazon.
bgirard
Are they finding your profile from something like LinkedIn? It's possible your profile is getting more exposure for one reason or another. It might even be a positive feedback loop where your profile getting more views is causing it to get better ranking leading to yet again more views.
throwaway203482
I’ve had a LinkedIn profile for years which has changed very little.
mindentropy
Yes. It has happened to me recently. I was approached by Meta and now Amazon.
VoodooJuJu
It's because you're special. They're in deep and they need The One Who Can Save Us. You are The Chosen One.
smarri
Follow the white rabbit, neo
throwaway203482
I always knew this was true, but I’m glad to get it confirmed by random people on the internet. Time to start my hero’s journey.
leros
You might have done something online that made you look like a more active candidate. Companies are using all sorts of fancy recruiting tools these days to help them more efficiently reach out to candidates.
the_only_law
Need someone to document these so I can game it like they did with ATS scanning back whenever that was becoming popular.
leros
Updating your LinkedIn is probably enough.
HeyLaughingBoy
Same thing happened to me, but with medical device companies. Right after I accepted a position, I was bombarded with ads from competitor companies for essentially the job I was just hired into.

Either it's coincidence, or it's a feature that LinkedIn offers to its clients. Either way, I'm not looking rn.