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Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

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Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#1

Post by boxcardavin »

I'm asking this for several founders on our team who are getting deeper into our thirties and starting to think about moving to a larger more stable company. We have been working together for 4 years under the same company name during which time we have done 4 major projects that we were hoping would take off. We've been profitable the entire time and we all make decent salaries, and 3 of the projects still generate modest revenues.

The problem we are facing is that our resumes and Linkedins do not look impressive (to our eyes) because you don't see a progression through multiple companies with inflating job titles (example good profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/saadkhan02).

So, how does one communicate that they are hirable after running a semi-successful startup for years? Or, perhaps, is this undesirable?

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#2

Post by moondev »

I don't think it matters as much as you think. If anything it shows that you are a more stable employee that won't jump ship.

Put all 4 projects on there and try to sell them as technically as possible.

I was at an unknown company (nationally) for 7 years before I left. I had no issues whatsoever getting interviews.

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#3

Post by otoburb »

Do not fixate on job title progression alone; your co-founder titles are impressive enough. Outline your area(s) of responsibility on each project, especially if you all rotated roles once in a while.

Focus on growth of both top and bottom lines, and highlight margin improvements over the 4 years and 4 projects. Try to quantify your accomplishments in dollar figures since they stand out more. Statements such as "Grew revenues 50% YoY from $0 to $X million over 36 months" will quickly catch anybody's attention.

Throw in some specific, targeted technical phrases that are keyword friendly and you'll easily be an outstanding candidate.

Be prepared to explain why you'd want to join the target company and not stay at your current company.

TLDR: Hiring managers hone in on results, not only titles. Quantify your business impacts and list your technical accomplishments.

EDIT: Regarding my comment about quantifying your margin impact, for those that don't know, "margin" and "markup" are not equivalent[1]. Thankfully it's really easy for technically inclined folks to grasp this insanely useful financial concept.

[1] http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/102714/whats-differe...

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#4

Post by lloyd-christmas »

> So, how does one communicate that they are hirable after running a semi-successful startup for years

The fact that you've held a job for more than just 6 month stints is enough to push you all the way to the front of the line. Most applicants we see just do 6 months here and there. I refuse to hire anyone that hasn't stayed at a company at least 2 years (excluding new grads). 4 years is pretty much a unicorn nowadays.

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#5

Post by beachstartup »

personally i don't think it's that big of a deal. on my resume i just call myself a co-founder of my company, X years. i don't even put a title on my linked in because i don't want people to try to pitch to me.

otherwise, give yourself a different title for different periods of time, and list your co-founders or customers as references.

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#7

Post by sharemywin »

You can also break out job titles under the company. So, if you worked on one project as the tech lead and program manager as another. or break out responsibilities under job titles. Hiring managers could respond to this but seems like:

Awesome Great Company I started: 2014 - Present

CEO/HR - I was responsible for ...

CEO/VP Sales - I successfully sold 4 large projects which resulted in ... sales ...

CTO/Tech Lead - I designed, built, tested ... Also, created a complete automated test suite... using NoSQL, Android...

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#8

Post by AlwaysRock »

I'd be happy to spend ten minutes giving you pointers. I've a tech recruiter in Chicago and I've worked with a number of CTO's from 1871 (local co working space/tech incubator) to transition from their startup to a new role.

But like many have said here if you write on your resume what you have actually been building over the last couple years you should be fine. Being able to clearly talk about your experience is more important.

Re: Ask HN: How do I write a resume after five years of a startup?

#10

Post by quantumhobbit »

lloyd-christmas wrote: post #4

> So, how does one communicate that they are hirable after running a semi-successful startup for years The fact that you've held a job for more than just 6 month stints is enough to push you all the way to the front of the line. Most applicants we see just do 6 months here and there. I refuse to hire anyone that hasn't stayed at a company at least 2 years (excluding new grads). 4 years is pretty much a unicorn nowada…

I've seen two types who fit the six month pattern:

1 Devs who simply can't code and get fired/managed out/not contract renewed

2 Unlucky people who don't put up with crappy work environments

The first groups should be easy to weed out with decent interviews. The second are a goldmine as long as your company isn't as dysfunctional as the companies that drove them away previously.

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