

How to Join a Startup Right Out of School - filipmares
http://www.jeanhsu.com/2011/04/24/how-to-join-a-startup-right-out-of-school/

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kloncks
Having great personal projects is key. We're really fortunate to be in an
industry where you can so easily showcase your skills & talents.

Through my interviews with startups (I'm a college Junior), they were _much
much_ more interested in my side-projects than anything school-related. I
highlight Projects at the very top of resume, then past Internships, then
school-related activities.

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joshu
This goes for non-students too. We are very interested in people that have pet
projects.

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slunk
I'm hoping this thread will be a good place to get some advice. I'm about to
finish undergrad. I was thinking about going to grad school but I really
wanted to take a break from academia to see if I would prefer working at a
startup. I've found that it is a lot harder than I expected to get hired.

I have an extremely good academic record but I can't say I blame companies for
not taking that too seriously. I only have one big non-class coding project to
my name and it was for research. Sadly, I focused too much on school in the
past 4 years and not enough on personal projects. I obviously can't just tell
people I'm a good fucking programmer. There is no reason to believe me. Is the
best solution to forget job applications for now and start working on a
project of my own?

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timr
_"I have an extremely good academic record but I can't say I blame companies
for not taking that too seriously."_

Nonsense. Despite the conventional wisdom on HN, most companies highly value
students with good grades. We just also want people who can code. If you can
do both, you'll be fine. But...it takes a while to land the first gig. That's
_totally normal_ , and has very little to do with the status of your github
account. Do not believe people who tell you otherwise, because they have
serious problems with perspective.

The fact is, if you've just started hunting, you're looking for work late in
the recruiting cycle. Most larger companies recruit at the beginning of the
school year (autumn), with a smaller effort sometime after the holidays. So if
you're starting now, you're going against the tide, and it will be tougher to
get attention.

If you can code, and your grades are as good as you say they are, send me your
resume (my HN user at yelp.com), and I'll put your application in at Yelp.
We're always hiring smart people.

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simonsarris
I applied to a few startups for positions that asked for ~5 years experience
right out of school.

My email usually consisted of asking if they would consider someone of lesser
experience (perhaps as a half-year trial) with pay of course commensurate with
experience. Some companies seemed very receptive to the concept.

Also: EVERYONE I interviewed for was far more impressed with personal projects
than academic credentials

I got very far with one Boston startup, where they debated internally whether
taking me or holding out for someone older would be a better idea, but I
eventually took a different offer instead (from a small-company, but not a
startup)

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elbenshira
Maybe I'm really lucky, but I'm still in school and I've worked for several
startups. Being in a start-up city (Austin) definitely helps. And I would go
to tech events and ask if anyone is looking for an intern. That's probably the
best (i.e. easiest) way. And know the technologies they use (hardly any
students know rails), because startups don't have time to train you.

