

Ask HN: What to put on a resume for a start up.  - mattwdelong

Hypothetical situation: You're the founder/CEO of a start up, you're rapidly growing and now you're looking for an employee to fill a customer development role. As it`s an important role, what are you looking for on a resume of the ideal applicant? I am sure there is no cookie cutter answer to this question, so I am searching for skill/trait generalizations.
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Flemlord
A cover letter that shows enthusiasm and excitement about our company. We cast
a wide net and do a screening interview for most of the applicants who seem
qualified. (Our screening process weeds out 80% of the candidates.) If you're
weak on our specific technology stack, a good cover letter may push you over
the edge and get you an interview.

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zaidf
Real metrics showing how kickass of a job you previously did in a similar
position.

If you are just starting out, then your ATTITUDE towards customer development.
Again, emphasis on measurable results.

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boggles
Do you mean "reported metrics" or "verifiable metrics"? If the latter, what
would be appropriate verification?

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bkbleikamp
Remember: the resumé only gets you an interview, the interview will get you
the job.

Previous experience is usually most important. If you don't have it, volunteer
to be a community leader somewhere (a forum?)

Short of experience, list things you've taught yourself (not necessarily
computer related - did you teach yourself physics in your spare time? how to
play the violin?). That will show your intelligence as well as a willingness
to learn and grow.

Recommendations - if you know someone who says you're brilliant, work your ass
off, or whatever, it will go a LONG way to getting you a job.

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derwiki
You have some sort of side projects that you've been working on. I've talked
to people in start ups who say they won't even consider candidates who don't
have this.

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jwilliams
People generally need to be self-sufficient, self-starters, etc. Someone that
you can point at something and leave to it. Someone that knows what's relevant
to bug you with, and what they need to just work out for themselves.

I'd usually look for these traits, rather than specific skills or experience.

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FraaJad
Apart from relevant academic credentials, a link to your
github/bitbucket/sourceforge profile.

~~~
schammy
Academics is the least important thing to me. It's like having an "A+"
certification - it doesn't mean a damn thing in terms of how smart you are or
what you are truly capable of.

~~~
blasdel
You're right in that the credential doesn't mean much.

But what the candidate describes _having done_ in academia is enormously
expository -- what research did they do? with whom? did they publish? did they
attempt substantial development projects? with a group of people? did they
have jobs? did they teach?

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technomancy
Free software contributions.

Nothing else comes close to contributions for demonstrating passion, coding
ability, and communication skills.

~~~
wheels
That's less applicable for customer development.

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udfalkso
URLs of great websites that you've previously been involved with.

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prakash
early stage sales, or before sales was a repeatable process. The lean-startup-
circle group talks a lot about this, join that group and search the archives.

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trekker7
what you've sold in the past, and how much of it.

