How to Prepare for an Interview at a Start-Up

Chances are you’ve arrived here because, like many of the candidates we speak to, you’re excited by the idea of working in the world of a tech start-up. After all, there are many benefits – the chance to influence, exposure to different areas of the business, endless opportunities to learn, a relaxed and flexible atmosphere and that good old start-up culture, to name a few! But once you’ve made the decision to enter the start-up world, how do you prepare for those all-important interviews?

Although every business is different, the experience of interviewing at a start-up can differ significantly from that of a large corporation. The processes are often less rigid, meaning you’ll have the opportunity to really make the interview a two-way process. You should get a thorough idea of what the company is about, where it’s going, what the team are like, what makes them tick, the type of culture they’re trying to create… and ultimately, how you could see yourself contributing to all of those.

So, here are our top tips for getting the most out of your interview:

Research the company in depth

Often information on start-ups available online can be limited, so showing creativity in methods to find out more, is a must! We cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of doing more than simply reading the website, you’ll have to don your detective hat and do some digging…

Don’t just Google the company, look up the founders and the existing team members. Learn about their backgrounds, previous businesses they’ve founded or invested in, their visions, their interests, their strengths/weaknesses and understand how you can complement those.

If you know the product you’ll be working on, see if you can trial it, and consider the areas for improvement and how you could contribute to those. Have a look for public road maps and information on funding to give an idea of where the business is heading. This will ensure you’re able to speak confidently about priorities and areas you can make the most impact, at the right time.

Take advantage of having contact with a tech recruiter (if you’re working with one). We carry out detailed briefing calls when we start working on a role, in which we seek to understand as much as we can about the company, the role and the culture, so we can recommend candidates based on more than just previous experience. Whilst Humand will always provide you with an in-depth job specification to share everything we can to help you succeed, not all recruiters give that benefit, so make sure you ask many questions!

Get excited

Start-up founders are likely to be on a journey and are looking for candidates who will not only fill the skills gap they’ve identified, but also those who will be equally as excited about the journey. Think about how you can demonstrate innovative ideas or ways of thinking that you can bring to the table. Show them that you want to be pushed outside your comfort zone and you’re happy to tackle challenges head-on whilst being open to learning and adapting as the business grows.

Understand where your skills sit against the job specification

Start-ups take a very carefully considered approach to hiring so there’s usually a lot of great indicators in the job description that can help you establish not only if you’re technically capable of carrying out the role, but also how your strengths could benefit the business. Going line by line through the job description and making sure you understand the requirements will help you to show the hiring manager that you can deliver value, right where it’s needed.

You’re not expected to be 100% perfect, so don’t worry if you can’t evidence all the technical skills listed. Start-ups generally prefer those who share their vision and values and want to share their journey with them. Understanding where the challenges you’d face in the role are will show a level of self-awareness that is sure to make you stand out. Take time to identify any potentially challenging areas, along with any ideas you have on how you could overcome them.

Don’t wait until you’re sat in the interview room to make a judgement on whether you could see yourself fitting into the business

Start-ups usually have strong cultures and put a lot of effort into creating them. Look for reviews, blogs and social media posts that indicate what it would be like to be a part of the business. Often businesses use different social channels to target different audiences, with the likes of Instagram being popular for employer branding. Be honest with yourself about whether you could see yourself fitting in and would enjoy working there. If you see endless photos of nights out, pizza evenings to encourage overtime, fully remote teams or group fitness classes, when really that’s not your thing, perhaps it may not be a culture that suits you.

Research the company/team structure

Spend a few minutes on LinkedIn or the ‘Meet the Team’ page of the company’s website to learn about the team structure. It’s important to understand the size and makeup of the team and the wider company. This will allow you to show an understanding of the dynamic in your interview.

If you’re hoping to be team member 1 or 2, this could be vastly different to team member 10 or 11 joining in the same position. You’ll need to acknowledge that an early-stage employee will need to help shape best practices, establish processes and set what ‘good’ looks like.

Find out everything there is to know about the interview

To help you focus your time and efforts in preparation, it’s good to get an understanding of the interview process, if the questions follow a set format if there’s a preferred way for you to present your answers and who will be interviewing you. Make sure you have thought through real-life examples of how you can demonstrate skills and experience that are relevant to the job specification, explaining the role that you played within the situation and the results you achieved.

Start-ups like candidates to be curious. Following your research into the company, arm yourself with a few killer questions that are specific to the role you’re applying for, the company you’re interviewing at, or the product you’d be working on – be ambitious, ask open questions (why? how? what if?) and think about some follow up thoughts based on various possible answers you could be given.

Be prepared to demonstrate your technical capability

Depending on the process and the role you’re applying for, you may need to demonstrate your technical capabilities. This could be in the form of presenting a portfolio, talking through some code you have written or a project you’ve worked on or completing a technical assessment. Whatever the appropriate way to demonstrate this, make sure the work you show highlights your skills that are relevant to the role. For example, this could be based on frameworks or languages used for coding, or perhaps the style of design used by the company.

If you’re familiar with the company or product roadmap and can demonstrate any skills that would help the business to achieve its goals, you’ll definitely be setting yourself up with a good chance of success.

Practice and evaluate your interview technique

Interviews are about effective communication, making it important to practice and analyse your interview technique. You could ask a friend, or family member to practice a mock interview with you. Or, if you’re more comfortable you could record yourself on video and watch it back to spot areas that could be improved.

Think about how your answers are structured, if they’re succinct, contain enough detail and if you’re using an excessive amount of filler words (umm, errr, like). Also, pay attention to whether your body language portrays confidence and positivity.

Interviewing is a skill that doesn’t always come naturally, so don’t worry if you haven’t got it spot on straight away. After all, it’s not something most people do every day!

Reflect on your interview while it’s fresh in your mind

Whether you’re working with a recruiter or speaking directly to the company, it’s really important to reflect on your interview. Make a note of any questions or parts of the interview you found challenging, including how you would overcome that if you went through the interview again.

If you are working with a recruiter, give them a call as soon as you’ve had a chance to reflect on your interview. Remember that they’ll be receiving feedback from both sides, so it can be helpful to let them know about the parts your found challenging and any thoughts you have had around those. If the company also highlights that they felt similar areas were weak points, it means the recruiter can let them know that you also identified those areas and have X, Y and Z idea to overcome them.

Start-ups can be a competitive place to get a job, especially the hottest ones, so we hope these tips will go some way to helping you prepare for your interview. Make sure you set aside a good amount of time to properly prepare and get into the right headspace for your interview.

Now you’ve done all the prep, all that’s left to do is go smash that interview – and we wish you the very best of luck!

If you’re aiming to land a software engineering job at a start-up but haven’t found the perfect tech role just yet, register your details with us today and one of our team will be in touch to find out more about what you’re looking for to discuss any suitable roles!