Since news broke about our financing and I started to blog about startup-related things, we have gotten a lot of interest from entrepreneurial students that “love startups” and “really want to work for one.”
We are aggressively hiring engineers, so if an engineer reaches out to us, it’s a pretty straightforward process. Are you a Cultural fit? Technical fit? If yes to both, then we probably want to hire you.
Since we are not currently hiring non-engineers, the process is not so straightforward when non-technical candidates reach out to us looking for jobs.
For starters, if you’re non-technical and inexperienced, you’re fighting an uphill battle, since you’re looking to fill a position that doesn’t exist. One way to get around this is to ask for an internship. For one, it’s easier to get an internship than it is to get a full time job. This is probably pretty obvious, but it’s definitely worth noting.
I intentionally let potential interns fall through the cracks all the time. I don’t really want to spend time interviewing and hiring them, and I know that once I do, it’s just going to take up even more of my time. New hires (interns especially) require training and direction. More often than not, the amount of effort I put in to training and directing an intern is less than the amount of tangible value I get out of the relationship. The other option is for me to put in no effort, and hope that you can figure it out on your own. I have rarely been pleasantly surprised by this approach.
So how do you get an internship with a startup that’s not looking to hire interns? Be persistent, network your way in and demand a job. Offer to do a trial period. If you’re super inexperienced, volunteer to work unpaid. It also helps if you can demonstrate a deep knowledge and passion for our product.
Most importantly, know how to answer the following question: “What do you want to do if I hire you.” I’m too lazy (or too busy) to answer this question for you. And if you can’t answer it before I hire you, that means that I have to take the time trying to figure it out after I hire you. That’s a pretty big deterrent.
The following answers send red flags: “I’ll do anything you want me to” or “I like everything” or “I’m not sure.” This tells me that I’m going to spend more time trying to think of tasks to give you, than you’re going to spend actually accomplishing them.
A better answer would be: “I can help you accomplish X because I am good at Y”. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for me to see where you fit in the value chain. Do you have a deep knowledge of our target market? Can you do customer service? Can you make pretty graphics? Edit videos? Everybody can think of something they are good at; all you have to do is figure out how that relates to some aspect of what we do on a daily basis. Remember that most startups only do two things: they build a product and they get people to use it. If you’re not technical, then you just need to make the case that you’ll somehow contribute to the latter.
If you’re an intern, you better be 80% doer and 20% thinker. The worst thing you can say is something like this: “I am a management major, so I can help you create a plan and define your goals”. I would much rather hear something as simple as: “I will help you get more users.”
If you can finagle an internship, then you just have to kick ass while you’re there. How do you kick ass while you’re there? Pretty simple: accomplish something tangible. Get customers. Own a project or role (company blog, customer service, community outreach, etc.). Get press. It doesn’t really matter: as long as at the end of your internship, I feel like we would suffer a major set back if we let you get away. If that’s the case, then we would be crazy not to offer you a job.
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well written post, thanks for the insght.
Awesome post, I found everything you had to say very true, especially having been in those shoes when I worked my way into the founding team at Olark (another Y Combinator backed startup). After meeting with the original founder (Ben) just one time, he was willing to give me access to their free user base. I dove right in the night of our meeting and had some insightful conversations with customers. The next time I met with Ben, I had a dozen feature requests from customers, great understanding of the product, and a firm idea of what I wanted to do for Olark.
There were several other people in my place who expressed interest in working for Olark, but waited for tasks to be delegated to them. That’s not how a startup works — you find ways to make yourself valuable, even when on the outside their seems like there are none. I would say this is an instinct, especially if you are new to startups, but these things can be learned if you are one to execute.
This article is great!!! I’m glad you’re taking the time to show how important internships are and the ways to go about it when trying to attract employers. I don’t mean to plug my company but it’s just so fitting for this article. PremierInterns.com is a job board dedicated to internships only. Not only do we look to address the internship acquisition process but we’re also looking to hire interns. We want to show that we can build a viable business utilizing interns, at least until we get funding and need to hire some professionals. Anyhow, if you want to mention PremierInterns.com’s services, please feel free to do so. This article is fantastic. Keep up the good work.
really good advices. great post.
PremierInterns: I was actually kind of excited about the prospect of browsing your site for interns to see what kind of talent is available. However, it looks as though your site is still in mockup stages. I would strongly advise you to defer on promoting your site until you actually go live — you will lose customers if they see an incomplete site.
“Most importantly, know how to answer the following question: ‘What do you want to do if I hire you.’”
Great advice, and not just for startups. I think every major internship I had, the hiring manager asked me that. A few times, I had no response and was shuffled around my first few weeks. Eventually, I realized that *probably* wasn’t the best way of going about things.
And all that was at companies with thousands of employees: It’s a much more vital question to be prepared to answer (even if you’re not asked) at smaller shops.
Great advice.
Great post again. I have one question. Can a american startup afford to hire a non-american intern? I am interested in working for startups but don’t know if a startup have enough incentives to hire a person from outside america.
Unfortunately, I have no idea
Great article, I’m looking for internship opportunities in startups myself, so this is very helpful, as well as the previous article on the same topic.