I spent five years in finance before moving to work at a tech startup based in NYC. The recruiting process in tech is very different, and this presentation shares everything I wish I'd known when I was making the move, including:
How to think about what I was looking for
How to approach startups
Whether or not I should be active on social media
Interviewing tips
There's a version with audio on Udemy: http://bit.ly/14Byvm2
3. Risk Management Extends To Hiring
Bad hire into a well defined role where hiring is
managed by an experienced HR team at a
30,000 person company: not super risky
Bad hire into a nebulous role where hiring is
managed by founder at a 30 person company:
very risky
You need to de-risk yourself.
4. How You Help Them Find You in The
Chaos: Figure Out Where You Are
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road
will get you there.” -- Lewis Carroll
Have you thought about where you’re going?
6. Where Do I Want To Live?
● In the US, most tech concentrated in
NYC/SF
● Look at the types of companies that are in
each city - they’re pretty different
● Obviously, personal factors play a big role
here too
7. What Kinds of Companies Are
Interesting to Me?
You wouldn’t go into banking without a strong
view on which of the industry groups is most
interesting to you.
Likewise, figure out what area of tech you’re
most excited about: financial tech, advertising
tech, online content, etc.
8. What Do I Actually Want to Do All
Day?
There’s not much out there like Vault.com in
terms of resources.
But there are a lot of job descriptions out there.
Read a wide variety of descriptions and get a
sense for what you find most exciting - both the
general job functions and also which individual
tasks.
Write a job description for the role you want.
9. What Stage/Size Company Do I Want
to Work For?
Seed Series A Series B or More
Your Role Generalist Specializing Specialist
Hiring Process Founder involved
Least structured
Minimal onboarding
Hiring manager leads
More structured
Minimal onboarding
Hiring manager or HR
person
More structured
Onboarding
# of Employees Smallest Medium Larger
Risk Highest Medium Lowest
Salary Lowest Medium Market rate
10. What Kind of Culture Do I Want?
Bank culture
doesn’t vary that
much.
Startups culture
varies a lot.
● Hours
● Location
● Professionalis
m
● Values
Pro tip:
Founder’s personality =
startup’s culture
11. So Now You’ve Done All This
Reflecting
Now it’s time to act on what you’ve thought
about.
The more focused you can be, the better
people will be able to help you.
FOCUS IS YOUR FRIEND.
12. Get To Know the Landscape
● Know the major VCs & read their blogs
○ AVC.com
○ BothSidesOfTheTable.com
○ Launch.co
● Read the tech press like you’d read the Wall
Street Journal
○ Silicon Alley Insider
○ TechCrunch
○ AllThingsDigital
● Attend smaller tech events (<100 people,
and ideally smaller than that)
● Find people in your network that are in tech
13. Make a List of the Companies that
You Find Interesting
Prioritize them.
Figure out what the 3 biggest challenges are for
each right now, and how you could help tackle
those challenges.
Figure out who you know at each company.
Reach out to them.
14. Rewrite Your Resume
Financial jargon will impress no one.
Rewrite your resume so that it actually
communicates your skills to someone who has
never so much as opened a bank account.
Your grandmother should be able to read it.
15. Get Social
● LinkedIn: for sure, and grandmother-proof
● Twitter: yes, even if you’re just sharing
articles, etc you find interesting
● Facebook: people may look at it but unless
you have really bad stuff, no one will care
● Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest: can be
incrementally helpful
● Blog: awesome, but highest effort
16. Be Proactive
There is no hiring cycle.
Jobs are rarely listed on company’s websites.
So your job is to skate where the puck is going:
● if they raise a round of financing, they’ll
probably hire
● if they close a bunch of bus dev deals, they’ll
probably add to that team
17. Reach Out & Make It Easy for Them
To Say Yes
● Be passionate but focused
● Offer value before you ask for anything in
return
18. Bad Email
Hi there,
I spent two years as a derivative trader on a
desk at Morgan Stanley and really want to work
at a startup. Can I get coffee with you
sometime?
Jeff
19. Good Email
● Uses the product
● Did research
● Has personality
● Explains
background
clearly
● Clear rationale for
passion about the
product
● Humble
20. Other Ways To Interact
● Share relevant articles via Twitter/Facebook
● Retweet/reply to the company’s tweets
● Like/comment on the company’s Facebook
posts
● Share/comment on the company’s blog
● Follow the company’s employees on social
media
● Look for introductions to people at the
company
● Write a blog post about the company and
share it across social media
21. Interviewing: Prep
● Read everything you can get your hands on
about the company
● Be able to articulate the company’s mission
in one sentence
● Be able to articulate 3-5 things about the
company’s culture that stand out to you
● Talk to people in similar roles at other
companies to get a sense for “a day in the
life”
22. Interviewing: Day Of
● Startups are informal...but basics still apply:
○ Be on time
○ Bring printed copies of your resume
○ Don’t wear a suit, but don’t look like a slob either
○ Describe what you think a typical day would look like
in the role you’re applying for
○ Articulate why this company, and why this role
○ Send a thank-you note
23. Some Hiring Practices That Seem
Weird But Are Common in Tech
● You may be asked to do a project to
demonstrate your skills
● You may be asked to intern or work on a
contract basis before coming on full time
● Hiring process could move super quickly...or
take months
24. Mistakes to Avoid
● Reaching out to multiple people at a
company, especially if they have similar
roles
● Expressing an interest in multiple roles at a
company
● Not doing your homework about the
company, including not being a user of its
product
25. Want More?
● Take my Skillshare class in NYC
● Take my Udemy course online
● Follow me on Tumblr: khuyi.tumblr.com
● Follow me on Twitter: @khuyi
