How to get hired at a startup
Getting hired at a startup feels like being invited to join a secret club.
For many, the traditional job board route doesn't seem to apply. If you’ve scrolled through endless stories from people who joined a startup early on, you may wonder: how did they even hear about these jobs?
The startup world operates differently from the corporate one. While large companies have standardised hiring processes, job boards, and recruiters, startups move fast and adapt constantly, which means their approach to hiring is often informal and based on relationships.
If you want to work at a startup, you can’t just send out resumes and hope for the best—you have to position yourself in the community.
Based on what we've seen from countless hires by our Stone & Chalk startups, here’s how you can do it.
6 ways to get hired at a startup
1. Get in the right circles
Startups are inherently social. They rely on networks not just for funding and partnerships, but also for hiring.
Most startup founders don’t have time for a drawn-out hiring process, so they turn to people they know or to trusted recommendations. As a result, many startup hires happen through networks.
To get hired, you need to be in the places where startups live. That means attending startup-focused events, joining industry-specific groups, and hanging out where startup founders hang out.
Whether it’s physical events like hackathons or meetups or virtual spaces like Slack groups, LinkedIn communities, or Twitter threads—find where the conversations are happening, and be part of them.
Stone & Chalk run a number of events that are open for you to attend and make connections.
When you put yourself in these spaces, you'll hear about job opportunities, but also about startup culture. Startups are notoriously fast-paced and often chaotic. The people who thrive in them are those who are adaptable and can handle uncertainty.
By immersing yourself in these networks, you’ll pick up on the unspoken rules and signals of the startup ecosystem.
The key takeaway here: startup jobs are rarely found on job boards. They’re found in conversations, in relationships, and in communities.
2. Build relationships, not just a resume
Startups look for people they can trust.
It's not just about skills—it's about reliability, passion, and the ability to deliver in uncertain conditions.
Founders are often looking for partners, not employees. They need people who can take ownership of projects and see them through, even when the path forward isn't clear.
The best way to demonstrate this is to build relationships with people in the startup space.
Attend events, contribute to discussions, and get to know founders and team members. Show genuine interest in what they’re building and how you can help. Offer your skills and insights where you can.
If a startup founder sees you as someone who understands their vision and can contribute, you're more likely to be brought on board—even if they weren’t planning to hire.
Startups don’t hire based on resumes. They hire based on trust, enthusiasm, and perceived ability to contribute.
Your personal network is your most valuable asset in the startup world. The more founders and employees you know, the more opportunities you’ll find.
3. Demonstrate value, don't wait for a job posting
One of the best ways to get hired at a startup is to start doing the work before you’re hired.
If there's a startup you admire or are passionate about, don’t wait for them to post a job opening. Reach out to them with specific ideas or solutions you can offer.
For example, if you're a designer, mock up a redesign of their website and send it over. If you're a marketer, outline a content strategy they could use to grow their audience. If you're a developer, identify a bug or suggest a feature improvement in their product.
In other words, show them that you’re already thinking about their business and how you can help. This is not about doing unpaid work, it’s about help, reciprocity, and giving because you want to give.
Startups love initiative. They need people who don’t wait for direction but are proactive in solving problems. If you can demonstrate that you understand their challenges and have concrete ideas to address them, you’re far more likely to get noticed—and hired.
Most startups are resource-constrained. At Stone & Chalk, we know most startups don’t have huge HR departments or the bandwidth to sort through hundreds of applications.
Make their lives easier by showing them how you can contribute from day one, and you’ll stand out from the crowd.
4. Leverage your side projects
Startups value practical experience. They care less about where you went to school or what companies you’ve worked for and more about what you can do.
One of the best ways to demonstrate this is by showcasing side projects. Whether it's a personal project, an open-source contribution, or something you built with friends, side projects demonstrate your ability to take initiative and create something valuable.
If you’re an engineer, point to code you’ve written. If you're a marketer, show campaigns you’ve run. If you're in product, walk through how you managed a product launch or feature development. The more tangible proof you have of your abilities, the better.
In the startup world, execution is everything. Being able to show that you’ve built, shipped, and iterated on something—especially on your own time—is a huge plus. It also shows that you’re self-motivated, which is one of the most important qualities startups look for in hires.
This is particularly true if you’re fresh out of university, where your work experience may be low, but your project experience may be high.
5. Focus on the right stage
Not all startups are the same, and where a company is in its lifecycle will determine what kind of hire they need.
Early-stage startups, for example, need generalists—people who can wear multiple hats and jump into different roles as needed. These companies often don’t have formal departments or rigid structures. Instead, everyone does a little bit of everything.
Later-stage startups, on the other hand, have more specialised needs. These companies might be looking for someone with a specific skill set, like growth marketing, sales, or data analytics. At this stage, the startup is trying to scale, so they need experts who can optimise specific areas of the business.
The key here is to know what kind of startup you want to join and what stage they’re in.
If you thrive on chaos and wearing multiple hats, an early-stage startup might be the right fit for you. If you prefer more structure and want to focus on a specific skill set, a later-stage startup may be a better match.
6. Embrace the startup mindset
Working at a startup is not for everyone. It requires a certain mindset: one that values adaptability, resilience, and problem-solving.
Startups don’t have the luxury of slow, deliberate decision-making. They move fast, often pivoting their product or strategy based on market feedback. As a result, startup employees need to be comfortable with ambiguity and change.
The best way to show that you have this mindset is to demonstrate that you’ve thrived in similar environments before. Whether it’s through side projects, freelance work, or even past startup experience, show that you can handle uncertainty and still deliver results.
And if you don’t have direct experience, emphasise your willingness to learn and adapt quickly. Startups value people who can grow with the company, even if they don’t have all the answers upfront.
Be part of the ecosystem
Getting hired at a startup is about positioning yourself within the tech ecosystem.
It’s not about sending out hundreds of resumes. That scattershot approach is unlikely to work in startup land. You should build relationships, demonstrate value, and showcase that you are ready for the unique challenges of startup life.
In startups, the lines between “insiders” and “outsiders” are often blurred. The people who get hired are usually those who are already in the conversation—those who are contributing to the community, solving problems, and showing up in the right places.
If you want to join a startup, be part of the ecosystem, and the opportunities will find you.
