Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

What is Static Jobs?

Static Jobs is a job search site for computer professionals in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Our goal is to be fast and simple in the spirit of Google. We're proud to be the first job search site that caters to job seekers but you need to read about us to understand what we mean. (For a really brief summary, click here.)

Our company name stems from the static keyword found in several programming languages such as C++, C# and Java. If you work as a software developer, chances are you are familiar with static functions, static variables and even static classes in these programming languages. Hence the name.

Because we're a niche job board, our job postings are limited to the following types of jobs to name a few:

  • Software engineer, software developer and computer programmer jobs
  • Hardware engineer jobs
  • Network engineer jobs
  • DevOps jobs
  • Unix sysadmin (system administrator) jobs
  • DBA (database administrator) jobs
  • Web developer jobs including front end, back end and full stack developer jobs
  • QA (quality assurance) analyst jobs
  • BA (business analyst) jobs
  • Web designer jobs and SEO specialist jobs
  • Help desk support jobs
  • CTO, IT director and product manager or project manager jobs

You get the idea and, of course, we have remote jobs!

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Why do we need yet another job search site?

Every competing website that we're aware of makes applying for a job unnecessarily difficult. If you've ever searched for a job, you've probably seen job boards that send job seekers to other job boards and so on. Likewise, you've probably come across job postings that want job seekers to create an account or answer a million questions or both just to submit a resume. This problem is aggravated by the fact that many employers, too, direct job seekers to other websites such as their own company website or a third-party Applicant Tracking System (ATS) where job seekers have to register or answer a million questions again and again.

What these job boards, job aggregators, job search engines and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) don't realize is that job seekers can't physically hop from a website to a website, register or answer a million questions for every job posting they're interested in. Yeah, it's convenient for employers to post a job and ask job seekers to apply on another website but it's not convenient for job seekers. Therefore, job seekers are not going to apply if it's difficult to apply. Similarly, employers are going to lose money if job seekers can't easily apply for their jobs.

Static Jobs fixes the problems above by asking job seekers only a few basic questions. We don't require registration and we certainly don't send job seekers to various websites on the Internet. Anyone can apply and, as an added bonus, job application information is saved in local storage after a job seeker applies the first time. This makes job seekers extremely efficient which, in turn, means more resumes for employers. Employers just need to realize they should stop directing job candidates to other websites or asking a whole lot of questions if they want to attract talent.

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Why does your website look a bit dated?

Our website design is circa 2007 - 2008 but rest assured we continue to improve it, both on the front end and back end. In our humble opinion, software development in general and web development in particular are heading in the wrong direction. We believe usability on the Web was at its peak around that time and, as old school software engineers, we're more concerned about usability and speed rather than fancy and distracting graphics.

We intentionally coded our website in Web 1.5 style. We rejected the idea of using another latest and greatest JavaScript framework. Rather, all HTML is generated on the back end and we use just enough JavaScript to enhance user experience (UX). In a similar manner, we strive to minimize the number of images on each page to save bandwidth for everyone. Remember, resumes are being forwarded by our servers at any given moment.

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I suggest using two input fields – one is for keywords and the other is for location...

You missed the point of our website if you suggest using two input fields. There are job search sites out there that make you enter your keywords and location into two separate search boxes because it's easier for them to understand your query even though you need several mouse clicks to enter or edit your information. We deliberately moved away from this because we want to be fast and simple in the spirit of Google in this niche.

We make job seekers extremely efficient but this answer is only part of the story. Since the same input field can be used for keywords, location or both, job seekers need only one mouse click to enter or edit their query on our website. Also, we work harder on the back end to understand your intentions.

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I love your business model! Who are you, guys?

Thanks for asking! We're a team of old school software engineers and system administrators from NYC. All of us can program and administer Unix boxes because good engineers are capable of many tasks at hand. We're not web designers, though – that's one skill we would love to acquire some day!

Prior to starting our own company, we developed software and administered networks for major firms on Wall Street. Our technical background is not limited to PHP, SQL, Linux and JavaScript. Other programming languages that we've used in our careers are C, C++, C#, Java, Perl, Python and even Assembly Language for old MS-DOS computers.

Since we are old school engineers, you won't see any marketing fluff on this website. There are lots and lots of serious problems in the recruitment industry that just cry out to be fixed and the only way to fix them is by talking about them. Stay tuned for our blog!

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What's your technology stack?

LAMP. On the back end, we use Linux, Apache, plain vanilla PHP and Percona, a fork of MySQL. On the front end, we use plain vanilla JavaScript and jQuery. These technologies were perfect for the task, so we used them.

For efficiency reasons, we rejected the idea of using PHP and JavaScript frameworks in favor of plain vanilla PHP, JavaScript and jQuery. Also, note that this is not WordPress, Drupal, Joomla or any other CMS. Our code is completely original and we continue to improve it, both on the front end and back end. This includes modifying MySQL's source code.

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Are you going to open source your code? I'd like to help!

We've given some thought to open sourcing our code because we have some neat ideas and tricks that would benefit other projects as well. However, because of the commercial nature of this project, we're not ready to open source it yet. At least at this stage. Likewise, we cannot accept your code contributions. Your best help would be telling your friends and co-workers about our website. Please, re-read this FAQ and tell them that we're fixing some serious problems with competing job sites. And admit it! You've learned something new too, haven't you?

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Employer Questions

Isn't everyone on LinkedIn these days?

No, this statement is far from the truth. There are plenty of people, including the developers of this website, who don't believe in posting personal information on the web. That's why projects such as Tor exist, for example.

At the dawn of the Internet, we had job boards. Employers would post jobs with an email address for job seekers to send their resumes to. It was boring, tedious and inefficient but it worked. It was a necessary evil, if you will. Over time, however, employers have either acquired their own home-grown Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) or purchased them from an ATS vendor. And then they started to direct job seekers to apply on their company website or a third party Applicant Tracking System (ATS) because it was convenient for them. Job seekers would have to register on every employer's website or answer a million questions for every job posting they were interested in but do you see how much more human labor is required now to find a job? In short, employers made it even more difficult for job seekers to apply.

Now, when LinkedIn came along, job seekers pushed this burden back onto employers' shoulders. That's why LinkedIn became successful! Now employers have to contact LinkedIn members to ask if there is any interest on their part in such and such roles but the same fundamental problem still exists – both job seekers and employers have a hard time meeting with each other. In essence, Static Jobs fixes some serious problems with competing job boards. We attract job seekers with a very easy to use website but you have to give us a try to see how easy it is for job seekers to apply for multiple jobs on our website.

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Is it a job board's job to bring quality job candidates?

No, it's not. A job board is just a website where employers make announcements of current openings at their companies. Job seekers consequently apply for these openings and now it's an employer's job to go through all the cover letters and resumes to invite the best job candidates to an interview.

There are job boards and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that allow employers to provide custom questions. They advertise this feature to help employers select the best job candidates for an interview. The effect is quite the opposite, though, because job seekers are not eager to answer too many questions just to submit a resume. We highly recommend reading about why we started this project.

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Will I be able to customize my job postings?

You'll be able to upload your company logo after you sign up and that's about it. We understand that many of you would like to promote your brand but it's actually a terrible feature to implement because it deteriorates user experience (UX) for job seekers. Job seekers expect certain backgrounds on our website, colors, location of Apply Now buttons, etc, and if every employer begins to customize their job postings, it will surely interrupt job seekers' flow of work. Plus this is never a problem. We're sorry to say this but job seekers don't care about the appearance of your job postings. All they want is to be able to quickly submit their resumes and move on to the next job when they are on the market for a new job. That's all job seekers want! Let them effortlessly apply for your jobs, contact them in a timely manner and they will appreciate your brand.

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Will I be able to ask job applicants custom questions?

Sorry but no. It's against our philosophy. All you need from job applicants is a cover letter and resume. These two items contain all the necessary information. All other questions properly belong to an interview, regardless of whether it's an initial contact over the phone or a face to face meeting.

The goal of a job application is for job seekers to introduce themselves and if you start asking questions such as how they heard about your company, work authorization, availability, accommodations, college education, social network profiles, home address, phone number and even previous employment history, nobody's going to apply.

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Can I post a job anonymously?

Sorry but no. It's also against our philosophy. We want job seekers to know who they're applying to. We think it's fair. You know your job applicants and job applicants know who you are. This will save job seekers' time if they don't want to apply for a position at your company and will increase your chances of getting more resumes because very few people like to respond to anonymous job postings.

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Should I provide a salary range when I post a job?

You certainly should and, in fact, we encourage employers to provide a salary range when they post a job. This will save your time and job seekers' time if your expectations differ. Think about it. You probably have a budget for a role. Job seekers, too, have specific numbers in mind that they would like to make. Why would you want to make job seekers apply for your position and then read their cover letters and resumes if you don't agree on a salary in the first place? And another benefit is that your job ad becomes more attractive for those who fall into your salary range.

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Can I direct job applicants to our website or Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?

Sorry but no. You cannot and should not send job seekers to your website or Applicant Tracking System (ATS) because it's a sure way not to receive any job applications at all. We understand it's convenient for you to post a job with a link to apply on a third-party website but it's not convenient for job seekers. Put yourself in a typical job seeker's place. To find a job, he or she has to quickly submit his or her resume to as many employers as possible but what if every employer begins to direct job seekers to various websites that require registration or a whole lot of fields to fill out? Job seekers just can't physically do that. Therefore, nobody's going to apply. This is the reason we started this project but, please, read about us for the full story.

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What if I still want job applications in our Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?

We understand your desire to have job applications in your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) but, again, we'd like to emphasize that it's not convenient for job seekers and if it's not convenient for job seekers, nobody's going to apply.

There is a solution, however. You will need to set up a separate mail box for your job applications and your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) vendor will need to poll that mail box for new emails. Tell your ATS vendor to contact us and we'll tell them what needs to be done on their side. Please, note that the information in your ATS will be limited, though, because we don't want job seekers to answer too many questions. It's worth emphasizing this again. Too many fields to fill out will drive job seekers away.

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Do your answers imply that Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) don't work?

That is correct! In fact, we believe that this is where technology does more damage than it helps and our answer above is actually a workaround. ATS vendors promote their products because it's what they sell but look at this situation from the point of view of the ultimate truth. Granted, you will receive a job application or two if you send job seekers to your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) but most experienced job seekers don't care about your ATS and if it's difficult to apply, they're not going to do it. We're sorry to say this but there is nothing you can do about it. They don't want to register or answer a million questions on various websites on the Internet because that requires a lot of human labor and it's really a red flag that there are problems with your hiring processes. Assuming a position became available, the hiring manager should post a job, receive resumes and cover letters, go through them all and get in touch with the most promising job applicants. Trust us! Job seekers will be more than happy to submit their resumes when they read that it will go directly to the hiring manager.

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So what's the best method for job seekers to apply?

Believe it or not but the best method of applying for a job is email. It is a simple, time proven solution. Everyone has it, everyone knows how to send a message or attach a file and, moreover, sent emails are automatically saved by email services such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail. This allows for perfect record keeping because job seekers can readily find out whether they had applied to your company before, when they had applied, what they had sent you, etc. And the job poster can immediately reply to the job applicant's email without logging in into another website!

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What makes a job posting good?

Less is more. Brevity is the sister of talent. There is a reason these sayings exist. Therefore, a good job posting is neat, brief and concise. It doesn't lump together every programming language or technology that exists out there or try to combine multiple roles into a single role. A good job ad provides a salary range and it certainly doesn't ask job seekers to apply on a third-party website such as your company website or Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

If you're fond of programming assignments or tests, your job posting should mention it to save everyone's time. Similarly, a good job posting doesn't direct job applicants to look at your website or product. There is a tendency among some employers to ask job seekers questions related to their products or services, i.e. how to improve them, to select the best applicants for an interview. This tells experienced workers that you want to save your time at the expense of their own time and they are not going to apply if you want too much. The purpose of a cover letter is for job seekers to briefly introduce themselves and if a job applicant's cover letter and resume are interesting enough, you invite him or her to the interview where both of you can discuss how to improve your products or services.

A great job ad is posted by a hiring manager and should mention that the job application will go directly to the hiring manager. This makes a job posting significantly more attractive. Also, regardless of who posts a job ad, some of our job seekers are old-fashioned. That is, they want to be able to email job posters directly rather than apply on our website. Because we don't publish your email address, we highly recommend duplicating it in the job description so these folks could email you directly. If you follow this advice, please, make sure to break your email address, i.e. type something like john underscore smith at staticjobs dot com, to avoid bots harvesting email addresses. And last but not least, we encourage all job posters to disclose their names so job seekers could address them by their name, i.e. make their cover letters more personal.

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Should I give a potential job candidate a programming assignment or test? Recommended

Please, don't. Many inexperienced interviewers like to give programming assignments or tests because it's easy to see what a job candidate's code looks like or test his or her knowledge of a programming language or technology. They don't, however, realize two things. First. They save their own time by asking a job candidate to spend his or her time. And second. They don't realize that this is unpaid labor that experienced job candidates, naturally, are not eager to do. Why should a job applicant waste his or her time if both parties don't agree on something else? That's the point of an interview – both parties spend an equal amount of time and effort on an interview and, if you really want to give a potential job candidate a programming assignment or test, please, pay for his or her time and labor. We think it's fair. Likewise, if you're still not convinced that you should not give your job candidates a programming assignment or test, please, mention it in your job ad to save everyone's time. Very likely, you won't have to interview anyone at all.

So what's the moral of the story here? You need to be able to interview without shifting the interviewing burden onto job candidates' shoulders if you want to attract talent. Also, please, read our answer to job seekers to this question. There is more insight into the story there.

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I often receive cover letters that look copied and pasted. Is it normal?

It's perfectly normal for job seekers to copy and paste a cover letter when they apply for multiple jobs. Please, understand that the purpose of the cover letter is for job applicants to introduce themselves. Job seekers just can't physically write a brand new cover letter from scratch for each role. Plus it doesn't make any sense because a cover letter describes their background which is the same regardless of the wording used. Therefore, most will use an existing cover letter with a few minor edits, if any.

Now, some of you ask job seekers to prove they're not a bot, i.e. write the color of #FFFFFF or something like that, or answer questions related to your project. In the first case, we encourage every job poster to disclose his or her full name. This will be your test, if you will. Most job seekers will be more than happy to address you by your full name to make a cover letter more personal. In the second case, you're actually squeezing interview questions to save your time at the expense of job seekers' time. So, please, don't do it. You're risking to discard an experienced candidate's application if he or she chooses not to answer your project related questions.

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Job Seeker Questions

Why do you show a city when I search for remote jobs?

You probably didn't realize that it's not just remote jobs. More exactly, it's remote jobs that are in the US, it's remote jobs that are in Canada and it's remote jobs that are in the UK. Static Jobs lets you search for remote jobs on a country level, state or province level and city level. That is, you can search for remote jobs in a country, state or province or city of your choice!

We ask employers to use the word remote in a job title for remote roles and provide a city for their main office so we know what country, state or province or city a remote job is in. And if we find the word remote in a job title, we tag these job postings with a Remote Job attribute to attract your attention.

Although it's pretty intuitive, i.e. Remote UK, please, read search examples to learn how to find remote jobs in your country, state or province or city.

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Should I disclose my current salary to my new employer?

Please, don't disclose your current salary to your new employer. Employers have their own interests and you have your own. You know how much you're worth. Tell your potential employer how much you would like to make and if your potential employer is interested in you, both of you will be able to negotiate your salary. Also, it's important to know that some cities such as New York prohibit employers from inquiring about your salary history. Google to see if your city does the same.

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My potential employer wants to give me a programming assignment or test. Should I do it (take it)? Recommended

We strongly advise against doing a programming assignment or taking a test. Please, tell your potential employer that this is unpaid labor. Tell them you understand their desire to hire the best candidates but why should you waste your time if both of you don't agree on something else? Their interviewers get paid to speak with you. You don't get paid to speak with them and now your potential employer wants you to spend even more time to save their interviewers' time.

Common sense tells us it's not fair towards job applicants. That's the point of an interview – both parties spend an equal amount of time and effort on an interview and if your potential employer really wants to give you a programming assignment or test, please, ask them to compensate for your time and labor.

It's possible, though, that your potential employer doesn't accept your arguments against a programming assignment or test. Well... In this case, you decide if a position is attractive enough to warrant your extra time on a programming assignment or test but our take on this is that employers should interview job applicants without unnecessary complexities if they don't want to drive experienced candidates away.

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How long should my cover letter be?

This is the most difficult question because there is no right or wrong answer. Although a number of websites suggest that you should write a personal story, it really depends on who will be reading your cover letter. There will be times when you provide a long personal statement but the job poster expects a brief and concise introduction or vice versa. You can never guess.

However, it's useful to remember that job posters receive hundreds of resumes and they can't physically read every long cover letter. Therefore, in our humble opinion, experienced professionals should have a brief and concise cover letter to save a recruiter's time. Your resume should speak about your professionalism! In a similar manner, those with little or no experience should provide longer cover letters to advertise themselves. An experienced recruiter will understand whose resume he or she is about to open just by glancing at your cover letter but it's worth repeating it again. You never know who will be reading your cover letter.

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Should I post personal information on the Internet?

Cardinal Richelieu is attributed the following quote: If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him. Thus, be careful what you say or post on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, especially under your real name. Even if you say the ultimate truth, it may cost you a job in the future.

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