How to get a job at a startup
Find a meaningful role and instant responsibility
Fresh out of university, not quite bright eyed and bushy tailed but definitely ready to move on and find an industry to succeed in, startups give graduates instant responsibility and a chance to carve out a meaningful role for themselves within a business. It’s not the free fruit or table tennis that should be the draw, it’s the opportunity to work in an innovative environment where everyone’s opinion counts and where having a chat with CEO is as easy as crossing the office — a stark contrast to the more corporate, office politics riddled roles many of your friends may end up in.
Develop the right skills
Programming is the classic route in. While it may not be modern day poetry as some have suggested, writing code will always be crucial to most startups. If you think Javascript looks like stepping into ‘The Matrix’ don’t be alarmed — there are plenty of other opportunities. Wrote for a student paper? Think about becoming a copywriter. Addicted to Twitter and Facebook? Apply to the marketing department and see how social media can affect a company’s brand. Ultimately, candidates with prior experience and skills will always be preferred — you should always be on the lookout for ways that you can widen your skill set and make yourself more employable while you’re at university. Be proactive in trying to get relevant work experience, failing that, societies and campus brand ambassador schemes are good ways to develop the skills that startups will be looking for.
Companies will also be gauging whether you have the qualities that will help you fit in with everyone else. Sometimes this is as simple as ‘do I want to sit next to this guy for 10 hours a day’, but often it’s the most important part of the evaluation process. Startups want to find hard working and creative individuals who are going to add to their existing team dynamic. This is particularly important given the freedom that many new hires are given from the outset. At Valve you’re given a desk with wheels and told to roll around and find a project that interests you! Google makes sure you spend 10% of your time working on your own projects and ideas to help the company. If you can convince the company in question that you tick these boxes and will be able to hit the ground running without constant supervision, (your new colleagues won’t have time for extended ‘nannying’), then you’ve got a great chance.
Then find the right start-up and reach out
They don’t have the money to flaunt their presence all over campus. They won’t be in the ‘Times Top 100’ and they won’t be sponsoring your university’s football team. Often it takes a little more time and a little more research to find one that you want to apply to, but that’s important! You shouldn’t just be applying to the companies that your best mate is applying to anyway. Taking the extra time forces you to think about the kind of environment that you want to work in — the right cultural fit for you. Find a role that suits your skills and a company that fits your character and goals and you’ll end up with a job that you will actually enjoy!
Persistence throughout this process is key. Be sure to follow up your correspondence and make sure someone gets back to you — everyone at a startup is swamped and you may not be on top of their to-do-list. You can easily improve your chances of getting noticed by being a little inventive with your application. Reach out to the company on social media, show examples of your work or track down a relevant contact to speak to on Linkedin. 80% of jobs are never advertised so being proactive certainly pays off. We had an applicant that designed a website that detailed exactly why he wanted to work for us — that’s the kind of thing that gets you through the door.
The application process may be a little different, but then so is the job. Working at a startup is dynamic, varied and interesting and I wholeheartedly believe that everyone should at least consider it.
