Before applying to any company, it is beneficial to understand if they are of a startup or traditional business nature.
Both have fundamental differences in culture, environment and values. Most times, these differences extend significantly into their recruitment and selection behaviours and processes.
Click here to have an insightful read on the key factors you should consider before taking the plunge (Swirled, 2018).
I consider Tech companies as startups too, such as Amazon, Apple, Google, etc.
While they are mega corporates today, their culture and environment pretty much remain as a startup one.
"Startup" is not defined within the boundaries of just size and/or age of a company, but the culture and environment that the company is propagating.
If you've decided to put in your resume to both traditional and startup companies, you must understand how best to contest with your resume and tweak it accordingly.
I offer a few perspectives below.
Key differences in your application approach
Startup | Traditional | |
Fun element | Important | Avoid |
Character and personality | Important | Good to have |
Formality | Not so important | Important |
The fun element
In startups, colleagues tend to interact less formally with each other - from dress code to office etiquette.
While it's still important to maintain integrity and respect regardless if you're working in a startup or traditional company, one key difference is that startups embraces the fun element much more.
These traits usually extend into their hiring culture as well.
Your inability to "be fun" or "have fun" could be perceived as a weakness by them. It may very well work against your chances of being a shortlisted candidate, especially if they take the fun factor seriously.
Therefore, do inject some fun into your job application to startups.
Some ideas you can start with below. These are non-exhaustive:
Email correspondence: When communicating with the recruiter or hiring manager, try using exclamation marks appropriately to express enthusiasm, positivity and energy.
This practice will be quite different from your approach with traditional-natured companies.
Resume: Use less conventional resume templates that give off a brighter vibe. However, your resume should still maintain professionalism and aesthetic comfort for easy read-through.
You can also include a hobby/interest section in your resume and give it an interesting flavour. Mundane listing such as "reading, hiking, yoga" appears in a TON of other resumes. Avoid it.
What I might have written as an example? "Reading, hiking, and discovering good shopping bargains and sharing it with friends and family".
If you are determined to stand out, write it differently!
Interview: Be your genuine self at interviews and don't fake it. The interview panel can tell.
Yet, strive to be the best version of your genuine self. If you're not a smiley person by nature, remind yourself that first impression ultimately counts and a genuine smile does have power to break down the most defensive walls.
Project energy and enthusiasm. Naturally low-energy? Exercise more, sleep more and eat healthier.
It's not too late to start doing these actions as they naturally elevate your physical energy level and mental alertness, without you needing to fake it.
I myself am one with low-energy and have found these tips to be effective.
Injecting character and personality
While it's a good-to-have for traditional companies, I tend to think it is an essential for you to do so, to get a high chance of shortlisting with a startup.
Don't get me wrong! Every employer's selection criteria should first and foremost be the jobseeker's employment track record and skills relevancy.
However, in an intense competition scenario (which happens often), you will have to offer something beyond the basics, right?
Often times, it boils down to one's character and/or personality and how he/she fits into the overall company team dynamics.
With startups being organisationally lean, this means that each hired team member's personality and character can bring significant influence or change to the company team dynamics.
If you can offer insights about your character and personality, your interview panel will be appreciative of it as they can get a visual of how it looks like having you part of their team.
Some ideas you can work on below. Again, this is non-exhaustive.
Resume: You can indicate information of your personality profile type. From DISC to MBTI to Gallup strength or enneagram, etc.
Anyone who works in HR would be familiar with these profiling tools and it will help them and the hiring manager catch a glimpse of your individual self, thereby deciding how best you can fit into their overall team dynamics.
Interview: You will likely be asked questions related to soft skills.
For example, how do you respond and deal with certain challenging issues at work? How do you ensure that you work well with fellow team mates? Did you have disagreements or conflicts with your team mates and how did you resolve them?
Your responses to such questions will inform the interview panel of your personality and behavioural traits.
Therefore, use such opportunities to your favour in order to demonstrate your character and personality. Prepare your responses well in advance.
Such are very common questions typically asked by a sound HR interviewer, albeit in different shapes and forms.
Formality
Show of formality is necessary to traditional companies, as it is often seen as a sign of respect to their corporate culture.
However, it is not super important when it comes to startups.
It does not mean that one can be rude or tardy in his/her communication and job application process. Rather, startups tend to be more accepting of colloquial language during the recruitment process.
I can imagine phrases like these being acceptable to startups: "Hit me up if I'm shortlisted! I am looking forward to receiving positive news from you", or, "I'm just a call away! Feel free to ring me anytime if you have got questions for me".
Conclusion
What are YOUR thoughts about this topic? I would love to hear of alternative perspectives and additional ideas that will be helpful to jobseekers. Feel free to comment down below!
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