My 2c: I like the idea, but if I were searching I would not post because I know people in my current job browse hacker news and my profile is quite specific.
You might be able to anonymously describe your skillset, work experience, and achievements and have folks contact you and then provide identifying information. I certainly appreciate the sentiment you're suggesting here: it's bad optics to participate in one of these threads, and have someone from your company notice. That being said, I doubt your concern is as likely to occur as you might think.
> Why not make another account just for that if and when the time comes?
That’s not how HackerNews works.
I have an alternate account from which I have posted a few times in different “Who wants to be hired?” threads, and every single time my post is marked invisible (aka. shadow banned). I only realized that some time ago when, by chance, I checked my post with a private browser session both with and without logging in with a different account to the one used to post the message.
I’ve resorted to contact companies instead, that way I can handle my options a bit better. Most of the time when I get contacted to interview at a company is recruiters trying to position me in a company that I have absolutely no interest in, or startups that don’t even know what they are doing.
