How Do You Actually Find a Job in a Startup?
Looking for a job in a startup is quite different from the traditional job search in a number of ways, which makes sense when all things are considered. After all, working in a startup is quite different from working in a traditional role and a traditional office environment.
These days, there’s a lot less legwork involved than there used to be, thanks to the emergence of tech solutions (like the one you’re currently enjoying!), which bring startup career opportunities into the spotlight. There’s also the fact that there has been a clear rise in the number of startups — and as a consequence in the number of job opportunities within them — over the last ten years or so.
In this post, we’ll point out what some of these differences are, and look at three practical ways to approach finding that exciting startup job you’re looking for and put yourself on the radar.
1. The CV versus The Online Profile
It’s becoming increasingly rare for startup recruiters to have to sort through stacks of printed résumés and cover letters that land on their desk by way of job applications. People that work in startups are usually more keen to show what they are capable of and, more importantly, who they really are as a person and as a professional. It can be very hard to do that on paper and with words as your only weapon, which is why we created Tyba Profiles to help add some color and give candidates a chance to tell their stories in a way that really represents them. Here’s mine, for example.
These days, it’s not enough to just say who you are and where you’ve come from; we want to show it too. This need to be recognised for the value you can offer is one of the top reasons why people love work in startups in the first place. You’ll often see this reflected in the presentation of their résumés for example. Candidates seeking design roles will place emphasis on designing a great CV, and engineers will often try to showcase their programming skills. So don’t be surprised to find résumés like this one or this one hanging out on the internet.
Now, that’s not to say that you need to bust a gut trying to reinvent the résumé wheel — like this guy, for example — but startups provide an opportunity and environment in which you can be bold in showing off the crème de la crème of your personality and — so don’t be afraid to grab that bull by the horns and get creative.
Once you’ve created a profile, resume, or spoof, ask yourself this one question: if somebody reads this, will they really get an idea of who I am and what I’m capable of? If the answer is ‘yes’, you’re good to go. Now go get that job!
2. Networking like your middle name is ‘Twitter’
Once you’ve got your story straight, the next thing you’ll want to do is find the right people to listen to it. For this, you’ll need to be prepared to put yourself out there a bit and sharpen up your social and networking skills, both online and offline.
These days, the startup world is a bit like a religion. People who work in startups make little separation between work and play; they are almost one and the same. Startup employees are typically driven by a passion to make an impact on the world and to solve a problem in the most efficient, creative and often innovative way possible. That’s why here at Tyba, we invite you to ‘Find a job that excites you’, because your job — no matter where you work — will inevitably become a major part of your life.
Because of the cliquish nature of the startup bubble, it’s almost impossible not to find startup and events and groups (sometimes known as ‘meetups’) in almost every major city across the globe. These are no more than a quick Google search away, and usually they’re are open to anybody who’s interested, whether you work in a startup, want to work in a startup, or all or none of the above.
Connecting and rubbing shoulders with professionals and enthusiasts in your own local startup sphere is a good and common way to get a foot in the door nowadays. It’s also a great way to develop yourself in your chosen startup path — whether technical or non-technical — because you can learn from people who are currently invested in the sector and get up-to-date tips, advice and rare insights from the inside.
3. How Startups Roll When it Comes to Hiring
From our experience of talking to hundreds of startup recruiters, they tend not to hire people in the same way as traditional companies would. A lot of founders — especially in the early stages of their startup’s development — simply don’t have the time or the resources to dive into the huge ocean we call the internet and spray job posts across the multitude of job boards, forums and listing sites that exist. Instead, they’ll often use their established connections and existing professional networks to save themselves time, money and risk.
In the eyes of a startup founder or recruiter, when looking for the right candidate, it’s a much better bet to get recommendations from somebody you know, trust, and/or have worked with before. It’s also easier to pass on some of the heavy lifting to platforms that specialize in connecting the right talent with the right positions at the startups.
It therefore follows that creating a presence for yourself on platforms where startup recruiters and founders like to hang out and scout candidates is a very good idea. There are more and more recruitment-dedicated platforms emerging by the day, although they tend to be more broad and general, and not only for startups. However, for startup-specific job offers, Tyba is currently the biggest platform in Europe. Just some food for thought…
So, as you can see, finding a job in a startup is more about who you are and who you’d like to become than what you are and what you’ve done before. Therefore, you shouldn’t hesitate to express the things that you feel make you a valuable employee and a good problem solver when presenting your back story in a CV or résumé, for example.
Secondly, don’t be afraid to get out there and talk to people. Join a meetup group, or show up at a hackathon or any event hosted by a startup, wearing your best smile and your most effortless ‘hire me’ face. And finally, if you’re going to pursue a path in tech, you need to get on the scene in order to be seen, so sign yourself up to a platform where you know the cool cats and the big dogs of the tech startup world hang out.
It’s a lot easier these days to find opportunities in startups than it was before. There are startups popping up all over the planet on a daily basis — literally — which means there are more and more companies looking to build a strong team to accomplish their missions. There are also more and more recruitment-dedicated platforms emerging on the tech scene. But if you’re looking for one where you’ll always be presented with exciting startup opportunities that fit your ambitions and expectations like a glass slipper, you already know where to go, right (wink, wink)?
These tips are simply designed to help you get the ball rolling, but if you have any specific questions or doubts, just say the word — we’re here to help. Just drop a comment below, or send an email to contact@tyba.com and we can talk through it together, no sweat.
Words: Chuk Ikéh
There are hundreds of awesome and intriguing job opportunities in startups all over Europe on Tyba. Take your first step towards finding a job that excites you by signing up and answering a few simple questions. After that we’ll start shwoing you your best matches right away!
Originally published at blog.tyba.com on December 2, 2014.
