Hiring without application spam

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. Split between application caps and reverse or blind matching.

1. Jul 2026Wants a hiring site that caps applications per candidate and lets managers filter out spammy mass applicants. Read it: a comment in “I'm sorry I didn't respond to your job application”
2. Jan 2026Wants a job search site that limits applicants to one application per day to signal real interest. Read it: a comment in “Targeted Bets: An alternative approach to the job hunt”
3. Dec 2024Wants an employer-paid matching service to find engineers, replacing LinkedIn and its flood of AI cover letters. Read it: a comment in “I automated my job application process”
4. Jul 2022Wants a job site that takes preferences, finds matching jobs and applies automatically, going beyond LinkedIn Easy Apply. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Why is job matching still broken?”
5. Dec 2021Wants a marketplace where candidates list resume and salary and companies bid for them instead of applications. Read it: a comment in “Some Apple engineers rewarded up to $180k in stock bonuses as incentive to stay”
6. Jul 2021Wants anonymous redacted resumes where companies and candidates swipe on each other, revealing identity only after interest. Read it: a comment in “It doesn't take much public creativity to stand out as a job candidate”
7. Jan 2021Would pay over $100/month for an applicant tracking system that shows applicants where each application stands, including rejections. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: How have your recent job application experiences been?”
8. Aug 2018Wants a Triplebyte-like hiring service that covers remote roles and is not limited to expensive US cities. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: How did you find your current job?”
9. Jan 2017Wants a site to prove skills through tasks done in their own time, skipping trivial interview puzzles. Read it: a comment in “Another programming interview I blew”
10. Mar 2015Wants a job and interview site that strips gender, race and age from early hiring stages. Read it: a comment in “The Impact of “Blind” Auditions on Female Musicians (1997)”
11. May 2014Wants a speed-dating style way for people and companies to meet informally without formal recruiting steps. Read it: a comment in “Job hunting is a matter of Big Data, not how you perform at an interview”
12. Sep 2012Wants more general freelancing sites where companies bid for freelancers, as on a developer auction. Read it: a comment in “DeveloperAuction gets developers paid what they're worth”
13. Apr 2012Wants a job-matching service using a detailed questionnaire and solver, like computer dating, instead of inefficient current methods. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: computer dating, but for jobs--does it exist?”