Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#1

Post by arabello » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 7:35 AM UTC

I've got ~5 YoE as a Full Stack Engineer in a small software consultancy/house. We build products for external clients, covering everything from requirements gathering to production, with a focus on GenAI for the last two years.

Goal: Land an international role at a startup, preferably in the AI/GenAI field, ideally Founding or Full Stack Eng positions.

Problem: I'm not getting opportunities. I've been looking on and off for 2/3 years but only had 1 offer. My guess is my consultancy background isn't translating well on paper for the startup landscape.

We don't operate like a traditional consulting agency. I function as a Product Engineer (Full Stack and GenAI) including client-facing responsibilities, talking with stakeholders, challenging designers' UX/UI deliverables, partial team management, ownership of the internal AI tooling and some public-facing marketing stuff. I think all of this doesn't show up properly on resume's experiences.

I'm confident in my tech and soft skills. The main thing I lack is ownership of an ongoing production product with a massive user base, as we typically focus on project bootstrapping.

How do I properly showcase my product-oriented skills? I'm usually screened out or rejected after the first interview, suggesting the issue is primarily with my experience presentation or content.

If the issue is actually in my skill set, how can I effectively evolve in that direction while staying in my current position?

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#2

Post by DamonHD » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 8:01 AM UTC

Why aren't you creating a new business rather than waiting to tag along with someone else's?

I have always created my own and had other people join me.

This is not a criticism: something in that gap may be useful in your search.

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#3

Post by colesantiago » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 8:32 AM UTC

The thing your missing is that you need your own.

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#4

Post by arabello » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 11:07 AM UTC

DamonHD wrote: post #2

Why aren't you creating a new business rather than waiting to tag along with someone else's? I have always created my own and had other people join me. This is not a criticism: something in that gap may be useful in your search.

> Why aren't you creating a new business rather than waiting to tag along with someone else's?

To gain more experience, reaching a better positioning, improve networking and create a money safe net. I see your point BTW

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#5

Post by arabello » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 11:13 AM UTC

colesantiago wrote: post #3

The thing your missing is that you need your own.

do you mean a side project?

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#6

Post by colesantiago » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 11:39 AM UTC

arabello wrote: post #5

colesantiago wrote: post #3

The thing your missing is that you need your own.

do you mean a side project?

No. Your own business / startup.

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#7

Post by DamonHD » Fri, Oct 17, 2025, 5:04 PM UTC

arabello wrote: post #4

DamonHD wrote: post #2

Why aren't you creating a new business rather than waiting to tag along with someone else's? I have always created my own and had other people join me. This is not a criticism: something in that gap may be useful in your search.

> Why aren't you creating a new business rather than waiting to tag along with someone else's? To gain more experience, reaching a better positioning, improve networking and create a money safe net. I see your point BTW

I created my own first businesses of sorts before I had any significant experience, and then ran businesses alongside eg getting degrees. Maybe you are overthinking what you need to provide value of your own?

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#8

Post by raw_anon_1111 » Sat, Oct 18, 2025, 1:01 AM UTC

DamonHD wrote: post #2

Why aren't you creating a new business rather than waiting to tag along with someone else's? I have always created my own and had other people join me. This is not a criticism: something in that gap may be useful in your search.

Why do people always use this as a go to like it is easy to start a business that nets as much as even the median salary of an enterprise CRUD developer in a 2nd tier city.

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#9

Post by blakey_vibes » Sat, Oct 18, 2025, 1:19 AM UTC

I agree with the other answers here, but not everyone wants to be a founder.

sounds like you've got the skills - might need to put your marketing hat on for a bit and focus on the outcomes those skills translate to. in biz, there's two main outcomes everyone wants... either increased revenue, or decreased costs/improved productivity.

what impact would you make?

Re: Ask HN: How to properly show my skills for startup roles?

#10

Post by JustExAWS » Sat, Oct 18, 2025, 1:28 AM UTC

I work in consulting too - customer facing staff consultant and leading implementations. I did a 3.5 year stint at AWs Professional Services.

I had no trouble getting full time job offers from 3rd party consulting companies within 2 weeks after being Amazoned and again last year.

But, I seem to be toxic to product companies - more so than before I got into consulting. I’ve gotten more rejections the two times I was looking as an architect (it was a plan B) than I got before joining AWS and I was a developer.

I honestly can’t blame them, now I parachute into a company, lead an implementation and I’m gone in 3-9 months. Why would I hire me to be responsible for long term strategic vision who they need to be around for 2-3 years?

But to answer your question, you need to get on larger long term projects. There are some projects at my company where the tech lead has been leading an implementation for over a year with a team.