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Shred Your Resume: How To Get a Job

at a StartupJanuary 22, 2013 career, interviewing 5 Comments

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Lots of people want to work at startups these days. And for good reason. When I left my former positions at big

companies like Microsoft and Amazon, I caught the startup bug and got hooked on the challenge and opportunity they

provided.

But the thing that we all love about startups – that they’re different – is also the thing that can make getting a

job at one a little tricky. The rules for getting a job at a startup don’t exactly conform to the traditional wisdom

out there for job-seekers applying to big companies. If you are looking to break into the world of startups,

shedding the idea that a good suit and a polished resume are all you need to get in the door will be key for

landing your awesome new position.

Even though startups and startup culture have become so prevalent in business today, most of the job-searching

guides and wisdom available to job-seekers has to do with how to get hired at a traditional company with

traditional rules. What you used to do to get a job doesn’t necessarily apply in the startup world, and many of the

traditional requirements need a new spin to catch the attention of one of these fast-moving, driven teams.

In my career, I’ve interviewed over 600 people and hired over 70, many of those for the startups I’ve worked at

or was helping as a consultant. Based on that experience, I’ve put together a simple guide for getting hired at the

startup of your dreams.

Why is startup hiring different?

At a big company, you might submit your resume to the HR department and then wait weeks before you first

hear back about an interview. At startups, there are compressed timelines, and not enough people to do

everything. Things move a lot faster and you have to make more noise (or be more noteworthy) to get noticed.

If you haven’t worked at a startup before, you’ll likely be surprised by the intensity of the work and the

environment – and this intensity is no different for the hiring process. The people in charge of hiring at a startup

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are often working on lots of different items than at your typical large company (hence the saying “wear many

hats”).

Instead of meeting with an HR rep or recruiter whose entire day is about screening employees, you could be

communicating directly with a busy founder, CTO or CEO. This means they don’t have tons of time and if you

don’t make an impact right away, they might just skip over you.

Because of the fast pace and limited resources, hiring managers are looking for candidates who can hit the

ground running and be passionate about their role, without a lot of prodding. Culture fit and willingness to do

the hard work it takes to launch a company are some of the biggest factors that folks doing hiring at startups

look for.

Were you a superstar at your last job?

If you want to work at a startup, you should be; and your resume, cover letter, and communication with the

company should reflect that. Didn’t do so great at your last job or in school? Well, you’ll have to counteract that

by making a splash somewhere else, like with your own personal projects, an open source project, or with an

organization you participate in.

Startups look for people who are going to have the ability to make meaningful changes within their organization.

With smaller teams and more at stake, the impact an individual can make on the company or their team is

potentially huge. Standards are high and priority is given to candidates who show they’ve got the passion and

skills to get the job done..

How can I improve my odds of getting hired at a startup?

• Look at local tech news for companies that have been funded recently.Look at local tech news for companies that have been funded recently.Look at local tech news for companies that have been funded recently.Look at local tech news for companies that have been funded recently. This means they likely have

money to pay you, and that someone has done some due diligence before you (ie. the investors). Look at

VCs who you know and respect, or who have funded companies you know that have had successful exits,

and see what companies are in their portfolio. You may find a company you weren’t aware of but who fits

your criteria.

• Connect with employeesConnect with employeesConnect with employeesConnect with employees. Use Twitter and other social media to follow employees of companies you’re

interested in. You can judge pretty quickly which employees are open to connecting online – just take a look

at the public-ness of their LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, whether they maintain a personal website, and how

often they communicate with other people publicly. This way you’ll be able to focus your time and energy

on people who are already showing they are open to building relationships.I’ve mentioned this statistic here

before, but it bears repeating: over 80% of job offers come through referrals. The startup world is no

different; if anything, it relies even more heavily on referrals, as high-quality employees strive to bring in

more of the same to make their teams even better. If you build relationships with people on teams you want




to join, you’ll stand out from a crowd of applicants as a known quantity who’s proven an interest in the

organization.

• Have something compelling to offer!Have something compelling to offer!Have something compelling to offer!Have something compelling to offer! Personal projects (bonus points if they’re related to your future job –

like open source contributions to the tools they use) give CEOs and hiring managers something they can see

and evaluate for quality before even meeting you in person. Great examples of this include a personal

website, blog posts, or even just being present and having a network (so start meeting people and attending

local events). They shouldn’t Google you and find nothing.This is your way of demonstrating how awesome

you are before you ever sit down for an interview or write a line of code. Show them exactly what you’re

into and how much work you’re willing to put into something you care about, even when you’re not getting

paid for it; they will make the connection and be able to see how you’d function on their team, and be more

inclined to bring you in.

• Go to local events in your vertical.Go to local events in your vertical.Go to local events in your vertical.Go to local events in your vertical. Go where your targets are at (as saying I shamelessly stole from a

pickup artist). This means going to meetups, conferences, networking events, and anything else you can find

where you can meet other people doing your kind of work – and maybe even who work at a company you’ve

got your eye on.And just like meeting high-quality ladies in a pickup scene, you’ve got to actual talk to your

targets when you go to these networking events. Don’t be shy about introducing yourself. Remember, you

are pursuing them so you can’t wait for the CEO to notice you – be a little bold and introduce yourself.

• Tell them you like them.Tell them you like them.Tell them you like them.Tell them you like them. When I’m hiring, I always want to pick a candidate for whom my company their

first choice. In my opinion, if someone is passionate about engineering the kind of software my team is

building in the specific market we work in, then they’re going to work harder and more passionately than

someone who just needs a job. This means candidates who make that clear will certainly get my attention

over others. If you want to work somewhere specific, don’t be coy about it – let them know you want them!I

once got an email from someone who explained that he had heard about Decide on the radio, and our work

was such a perfect match for his interests and skills that he just had to get in touch with us. Although he

wasn’t looking for a new job at that time, if he had applied for a position on my team 6 months later, I would

have remembered his passion for our technology and been much more inclined to find a place for him.His

email was so memorable because he had clearly made a point to become quite familiar with our company,

our technology, and our team. He didn’t just explain his own skills, but also mentioned that he was the “go-

to guy” in his group of friends for finding deals online – so what we were doing at Decide was of particular

interest to him. If you feel the same way about the work a particular company is doing, don’t be shy about

letting them know. They’ll notice.

Landing a job at a startup isn’t easy. It’s a competitive field where most of your competition is the best of the

best. But that’s why it’s such a great place to work, and why it’s worth taking the steps to improve your odds as

much as possible.

If you work in the startup world, what were your secrets for getting hired? And if you’ve hired people for startup

jobs – what have successful candidates done to get your attention?

Related Posts:

• Epic List of Interview Questions

• Why You Shouldn’t Put Perks in a Job Description, and How to Prove Me Wrong

• The Transition – the culture shock of corporate to startup in your 30s.

• Build the Skills You Need to Qualify – Part 1: How to Get Any Job You Want

• Questions for Candidates to Ask in an Interview

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Comments

Anuraag Sachdeva 23rd January 2013 at 02:13

Love this article.

I agree with the observation that a lot of referral comes into picture when startup teams are built.

Another aspect of working in small teams is the culture fitment.

Engineers who are working in start-ups tend to like to work with similar kind of people.

As you mentioned, they wear multiple hats. However, startup teams generally to rule out ideas

like ‘red-tape’, ‘not-my-job’ etc.

The team of engineers working in the starting days of a startup tends to become a family and fast

paced working unit.

Also, the first thing I do when I get a profile is to Google the person. Always good to see the

Linkedin profile immediately. Always a good idea to make your github profile, linkedin profile or

some online community profile in your resume.

Reply

Anuraag Sachdeva 23rd January 2013 at 02:14

I meant to say “Always a good idea to make your github profile, linkedin profile or some

online community profile linked from your resume. For easy access.”

Reply

kate 24th January 2013 at 13:05

Thanks so much Anuraag! Good point and I appreciate the comment

Reply

Peter Maloof, the OCD Proofreader 24th January 2013 at 11:37

Hi Kate,

I really liked this post.

Instead of, “Culture fit and willingness to do hard work is takes to launch a company”, did you

mean, “Culture fit and willingness to do THE hard work IT takes to launch a company”?




about me

katemats

Kate is known as one of the top

technology leaders and CTOs. Her

technical background is in creating

and operating large-scale web

applications. Her focus has

primarily rested on SaaS

applications and big data. She has

extensive experience building and

managing high-performance

teams, and considers herself a fan

of agile development practices and

the lean startup movement. She is

currently founding her own

startup, popforms, but has held

roles as developer, project

manager, product manager, and

people manager at great

companies including Amazon and

Microsoft. The last seven years she

has been a VP of Engineering/CTO

for companies like Moz, Decide

(acquired by eBay), and Delve

Networks (acquired by Limelight).

Kate is a keynote speaker, and she

is also the curator of the

Technology and Leadership

Newsletter (TLN -

www.techleadershipnews.com)

and has a personal blog at

katemats.com.

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© 2013 kate{mats}.

please leave a reply

Are there proofreading jobs at any startups?

Reply

kate 24th January 2013 at 13:04

Ugh! You are so right. Thanks Peter – it’s corrected now

Reply




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