Hello, I am freshly unemployed and am about to embark on a few interviews with different startups. Can anyone recommend any tried and true resources or advice that might set interviewing at a startup apart from interviewing at a regular company/corporation?
Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
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Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#2Write and release code. Startups often say that they have to hire great people, but I know plenty that would be happy with a junior person. What they can't handle is someone who requires a lot of hand holding.
The engineers are going to google you before you interview. If they can't find anything to judge you on they're going to ask you the same questions they would ask themselves (often full of gotchas that you would only know if you actually worked at the company).
If you have released code, they can judge you before hand, make a decision about whether they have a need for someone at your level, and then re-orient their interview questions to whether or not they like you enough to work with you.
Sorry if I incorrectly assumed junior, although frankly a lot of start up engineers would assume that no matter what if they can't find an public contributions from you.
If you're not sure what build you might try building something using the startup's API.
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#3I totally agree with the above comment, but would also add that most start-ups are really tight and small groups... who also happen to be way more susceptible to turnover. The best thing to do is to be yourself, and make an honest judgment if your culture meshes well with those around you. Meshing together is often a much bigger deal than experience, at least in my experience.
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#4Be honest with the co and yourself. Self select who you interview with make sure its where you want to be. Large corporate jobs can bounce back from bad hire easier that a small co. Don't snowjob them, be honest, and make sure its a good fit. If so, work as hard as you can to get the job, and bust arse like never before once you do!
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#5The biggest issue is whom you choose to interview with. The worst case scenario is a false positive = you get hired and it is a bad match/you don't like the job. This isn't a corpo job where you can hide or distract yourself all day.
So with that in mind be very honest and only look at projects/companies that you are genuinely interested in. Don't reach for any position.
Make sure you like the co-workers and do some research on the product and the market.
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#6Write and release code. Startups often say that they have to hire great people, but I know plenty that would be happy with a junior person. What they can't handle is someone who requires a lot of hand holding. The engineers are going to google you before you interview. If they can't find anything to judge you on they're going to ask you the same questions they would ask themselves (often full of gotchas that you woul…
Agreed! It's amazing how many applicants you get that have only ever written code for school assignments or other jobs. Contribute to OS, start a project, just do something visible! It also shows you actually like what you do, which startups are definitely looking for.
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#7From my experience, most companies want someone who will add value on day one and who gets along with the existing team.
Don't be intimidated by the questions. Keep your confidence high and make sure to answer honestly in a straight forward manner.
Good luck.
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#8I just started interviewing developers for Tipjoy. I don't think there is anything in particular different about a startup. We want really smart people. I really like to hear about projects done on the side, when no one was looking and you didn't have to do it. You should check out Tipjoy, and the other good YC companies who are hiring: http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#9The biggest issue is whom you choose to interview with. The worst case scenario is a false positive = you get hired and it is a bad match/you don't like the job. This isn't a corpo job where you can hide or distract yourself all day. So with that in mind be very honest and only look at projects/companies that you are genuinely interested in. Don't reach for any position. Make sure you like the co-workers and do some…
I second this. When startup jobs are bad, they're really bad.
(good corporate job - bad corporate job) < (good startup job - bad startup job)
Re: Ask YC: Startup Interview Tips
#10Thanks for all the responses! One piece of information I did not mention is that I am not an engineer/hacker but a biz dev/sales guy. I don't think that changes much but just thought I would put it out there in case it does change anything. Thus far I have been very selective about the startups I have chosen to interview with. From the advice here, it looks like I should continue doing that.