Ask HN: How to find software jobs that provide private offices in urban areas?
I can&#x27;t answer the first few questions terribly well, because I&#x27;m honestly not sure how to go about searching for jobs that directly offer the (rare) private office, these days, however, I have some thoughts on the later questions.<p>As far as the &quot;correct&quot; way to ask for a private office, I think you&#x27;ve done it relatively well right here.  If I&#x27;m reading between the lines here, correctly, it&#x27;s implied that the private office, for you, is non-negotiable i.e. no amount of salary[0] will override the private office desire.  The way I&#x27;d handle it is the way you&#x27;ve presented it.  This is probably something to handle during negotiations -- after you&#x27;ve been given an offer -- rather than in an interview[1].  Simply lay it out as you would salary and other elements (e.g. software&#x2F;hardware that you require to do your job effectively).  I&#x27;d include most of the explanation that you gave here, though wouldn&#x27;t frame it as &quot;cognitive health&quot; as that has undertones of mental illness, but rather indicate that it&#x27;s a matter of productivity.  At the end of the day, you are something they are paying a <i>lot</i> of money for so framing the argument in a manner that helps them to understand that, in doing so, they will be optimizing the investment they&#x27;re making in you, is key.<p>I&#x27;d recommend looking at a company that has a reasonable number of private offices -- they&#x27;re unlikely to build something for you and if they <i>do</i> build something for you, you&#x27;re likely to encounter inter-personal issues with the remainder of technical staff that does not have (but very likely wants) a private office.  You&#x27;re also likely to run into a lighter version of the kinds of problems you get when you&#x27;re the &quot;only remote person&quot; -- out of sight out of mind.  Staff may see the open-office as a license to walk up to someones desk where your private office will serve as an unconscious barrier in that case.  At least in the places I&#x27;ve worked, it&#x27;s not unusual to have 10% of desk space be offices and for some of the senior engineering staff (usually folks who have been with the company for a while) have private offices.<p>I also don&#x27;t find what you&#x27;re looking for to be terribly burdensome (again, provided they don&#x27;t have to build something for you).  In past jobs, I&#x27;ve seen more onerous requests be offered if the candidate is excellent and we were in a tight spot or other circumstances warranted.<p>[0] OK, everything has a price - for a few million, most of us will work with our hands tied behind our backs, but I digress...<p>[1] In the most ideal circumstances, you&#x27;ll be a great fit and will be far ahead of the next best candidate that they didn&#x27;t make an offer to.  This invokes loss aversion on the part of the hiring manager making it more likely they&#x27;ll be willing to entertain your request if it otherwise isn&#x27;t a normal thing for them.