Hacker Jobs UK is a specialist site that aims to provide a better service to those looking for something beyond regular software development as a career.
The site is run by developer and Hacker News London attendee Jon Gilbraith and former tech recruitment consultant turned web project manager Steve Buckley.
According to the site’s blog, the service was set up because “There is a sincere lack of high quality job boards available for the tech community in the UK. There are plenty of options for job seekers out there but they are either saturated by recruiters or the jobs are incredibly generic and middle of the road.”
Steve Buckley, who wrote the latest post on the site, explains its origins: “Jon and I sat together in a pub after another successful Hacker News London meet-up and started discussing how some of the current ‘popular’ job boards make millions of pounds every year despite advertising mediocre jobs on ugly sites with terrible UI/UX. We concluded that the primary reason these sites were just terrible examples of the industry is because they catered primarily for their number one revenue stream which is the recruitment industry.
“A few pints later, just as the Ballmer Peak had set in, Jon and I had absolutely nailed everything that was wrong with job boards and we decided that between the two of us we simply had to do something about it.”
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The site bears a good start for the tech community with jobs available for developers of iOS and Android, web, C++ and Qt as well as a role for UX designers. Locations available at the moment include London, Huddersfield and Edinburgh. With a coders in hot demand right now, it’s set to become a popular destination both for job seekers and those looking for new staff. There’s even an opportunity for a CTO/Co-founder.
Considering agencies
Though the Hacker Jobs UK founders considered an outright ban on recruitment agencies, they have been more flexible on the issue but have raised the threshold on who they are willing to accept. According to Buckley, “There are a tiny percentage of Tech Recruiters who actually know what Developers want and it would be counter-productive to prevent these guys from posting real jobs.”
The site is powered by Obair, a company owned by Gibraith and Buckley which has yet to be launched but with the strap-line “The Work Company”, it is possible to take a qualified guess at the intentions.
Users are encouraged to provide feedback and by its very nature, it is not a surprise that the founders hope to develop their service based on advice, “The first iteration of Hacker Jobs UK feels relatively similar to every other job site out there and we’ve released a basic level intentionally,” writes Buckley. “We will constantly iterate and have some incredible tricks up our sleeve in terms of how we’ll turn this site into more than just another job site.”
It’s great to see some hope for UK hackers to find their niche and a site that will help them do this. I look forward to seeing what Gilbraith and Buckley do have up their sleeves in order to serve a fast-growing market.
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