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Ask HN: Should I put my startup on my resume?
21–26 of 26 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should I put my startup on my resume?
#22There are two sides for you to consider. On the positive side, it gives the hiring manager, if they care for that, a signal that you can build and ship stuff. You have tried building your own company and has more experience around the challenges that most devs do not have. I love to interview people who built stuff. On the negative side, it also signals that you might not be as committed to the new company since you…
While I agree that your "negative side" reasoning comes into play in some hiring managers' minds, in my experience filtering those companies out can be beneficial anyway. There's a night and day difference between the culture of companies that think "I like that my employees are inventive and have hands-on experience building things from scratch" versus companies that think "I'm threatened that my employee might start his own business and not need this job anymore."
Re: Ask HN: Should I put my startup on my resume?
#23I lost a job because I included my startup on my resume. But before you decide if you should skip it because of that, read on.
When I was in college I created a tiny ISP for my friends in my apartment. I got a DSL (which was $350/mo in 1999, about $1200/mo in today's dollars). Then I ran ethernet cables to all the apartments, and set up the router and collected payment from everyone.
I put this on my resume as running a small ISP.
When I was interviewing at Google, everything was great, I was on the last interview, and he asked me about it. So I told him honestly about how I had 10 customers. And he said "oh, so not a real business, why would you put this on here?". And then he rejected me and I didn't get into Google pre-IPO (I had an insider tell me it was his rejection that did me in and it was the only reason he didn't like me).
So my point is, if it's there it invites questions. If you have a good story it can only be a good thing (and you honestly have a good story). Just be aware people might ask questions and be ready to answer.
Re: Ask HN: Should I put my startup on my resume?
#24> I’m debating whether or not I should put it on my resume.
Tailor your resume for the role you're applying for.
If the role is purely engineering, then show relevant tech skills. Instead of I built a startup, you could say I built a a platform X that does this using this.
When you're applying for a job you're basically submitting an answer to a question, so you need to understand what they need from you. Putting `I made a startup with X number of users` signals that you've your own thing and would leave in a heartbeat. It only make sense if you're looking for an advisor position related to product/business.
Re: Ask HN: Should I put my startup on my resume?
#25> I’m debating whether or not I should put it on my resume. Tailor your resume for the role you're applying for. If the role is purely engineering, then show relevant tech skills. Instead of I built a startup, you could say I built a a platform X that does this using this. When you're applying for a job you're basically submitting an answer to a question, so you need to understand what they need from you. Putting `I…
OP, this is very good advice. As an entrepreneur, you know that you need to understand your potential customers, and tailor your presentation to them. When interviewing, you are the product, and you should tailor your resume and interview performance to the sales pitch you are making.
Re: Ask HN: Should I put my startup on my resume?
#26I lost a job because I included my startup on my resume. But before you decide if you should skip it because of that, read on. When I was in college I created a tiny ISP for my friends in my apartment. I got a DSL (which was $350/mo in 1999, about $1200/mo in today's dollars). Then I ran ethernet cables to all the apartments, and set up the router and collected payment from everyone. I put this on my resume as runnin…
Ah I had a similar one (nobody as high profile as G ofcourse). But I can attest sitting in those interview committee meetings trying to point out these biases against such candidates only to be disappointed! Well atleast you went to do bigger and better things mate!