Startup Job –Keys to Success at Your First Startup Gig
A lot of people talk about how great it is to start your own company. But what they don’t tell you is that in order for any startup to succeed, it needs really great employees. Rockstar employees are key for any startup to have a hopes of a long successful life. And they’re hard to come by.
Good new is, there’s definitely a market for you if you’re one of these Rockstars. Pretty much any startup will be happy to have you. It’s now just yours to find the right fit.
Here are a few tips and tricks to making the most out of your first startup gig.
How to find “the gig”
You might find it on Indeed. You might hear about it through a friend. But just like the start to any great story, everyone is going to find their first startup gig in a unique way. For me, believe it or not, a lot of my best gigs have come through Craigslist.
That might sound weird to traditional job seekers lining up to submit their resumes on LinkedIn. But certain geographical locations have really strong craigslist job posting presences. The San Francisco Bay Area is one of them. You can find all kinds of jobs and gigs on there. Everything from freelance stuff to full time jobs.
What’s the number one trick to finding your next great gig? Be open minded –apply to whatever interests you.
I’ve had several contractor/freelance gigs turn into full time, well paying jobs, or at least lead to further work down the road. Show up, demonstrate what you can do, and let the good times roll!
What to do on your first day (and months)
Most startups are still just trying to figure things out. Hopefully you’ll join a startup that is well enough along that they have some financial cushion. But regardless, because startups are in the “figuring things out” phase, just because you have the job offer doesn’t mean you really “have a job” in the traditional sense. Your whole first couple months are going to be a job interview. Be ready to show what you can do, while at the same time create good work/life boundaries early on. The relationships that you have with your work at the beginning of your job is pretty much likely to be how it is going to stay, regardless of how many pay raises and promotions you get. Same things go for expectations.
Be ready to work on your own
There probably won’t be a lot of rules and regulations around your job. Most likely you’ll be the first of your kind hired at the company. The world is an open road. You can do whatever you want. This can be good and bad. For some it could be really stressful, not having clearly defined parameters around how you should operate every day. Projects will come up that you weren’t expecting, and you’ll have to juggle a lot of different things at once.
But because of the openness of working at a startup you’ll be able to grow and take on responsibilities in a way that would only be available years down the road at a traditional job. So enjoy it, and make the most of it.
Startups like initiators and self starters
You may not be an entrepreneur in the traditional sense, but startups like people with entrepreneurial spirit. It’s actually a great way to get exposure to entrepreneurship without taking on as much financial risk. Everyone at a startup takes on some risk. Typically you forgo better pay to work at one, and there’s always the chance that the company could fail and you’ll have to move on to another job (and apply to a lot more craigslist ads).
That being said, it’s not enough to just sit around and be part and parcel with the ride. To truly exceed at a startup, you’ll need to provide value in a really real way. What you do will be noticed –something which is both scary and really cool. Build something new or solve a problem no one else has solved.
Hire your friends (or at least recommend them)
People advise against hiring your friends, but the cool thing when working at a startup as opposed to founding one is that you aren’t actually going to be the one paying them. If you’re working at a good startup, you should feel easy about recommending your friends for work there. It can be a lot of fun brining in people you know you already get along with –just like it can be fun meeting people and working with those you otherwise would never have met!
Don’t be a martyr
We love making ourselves martyrs for our work. If you finish the week and you aren’t sitting at a bar drinking a gallon of vodka complaining about your tremendously busy week, then you aren’t really working.
Don’t be one of those people. The only thing people hate more than happy people are miserable people. They’re just a big downer! Instead, create boundaries between your work and your life. If you can’t ever have fun because you are always thinking about or doing work, then you aren’t really living.
Don’t buy into the workaholism of our culture. If you are being pushed to work to the point of burnout without ever a chance to recover and grow as a person, then chances are your workplace isn’t the right fit for you.
Check your ego at the door
Just because you are a rockstar doesn’t mean you should let your ego get the best of you. Don’t ever assume that you are “needed.” Sure, every startup needs a rockstar. But in reality, there are probably a couple thousand other rockstars waiting in line for you to fail. Sure, its hard to find the right rockstar, and its a pain for companies to replace them (not to mention its expensive). But in the words of Beyonce, don’t ever get to thinking that you’re irreplaceable. I bet you are. I know I am.
Lastly, have fun!
If working at a Startup isn’t fun for you, you probably shouldn’t be working at one. Or you’re working at the wrong one. You should be excited about building something new, and about the freedom you have over your own projects, and the room for growth you have. If these key elements aren’t there for you, get out. Get a 9–5 that makes sense for you. There’s just too much work to do at a startups if you don’t really enjoy what you are doing.
Hope these points helped! Please share on social media, and follow me on twitter @Jnderson007
Joseph Anderson is a Content Marketing Manager –in his free time he’s working on his second novel.
