Here at Taazza, we put out a request for hiring associates at our startup. This did generate quite an interest with folks  in the community. We have gotten emails from IIT grads to experienced folks and it has been a good learning experience for us.  It is time to share that experience with the community and we hope that this post will help other startups and those who wish to work for them.

Spend time understanding startups:

The first thing that one needs to know when joining a startup is to understand how they work and there are countless number of articles that talk about startups. There is a good chance that you want to pursue your own startup someday but if thats not the case make sure you understand what you are getting into. Here are some things to consider

• startups are not for the faint hearted
• startups are not a “get rich quick” scheme
• startups require sacrifices from everyone including you the candidate (pay/effort/etc)
• if you put your heart & soul and are part of the right team there is good chance you will succeed
• success is not guaranteed, it has to be achieved!
• remember its a journey, so if you are thinking about jumping ship often – dont even bother!
• startups are a small community and if you play dirty the word WILL get around

If you are still excited by the opportunity & the road ahead, read on ..

The next step in wanting to work for a startup is keeping track of them – be it through blogs or twitter or just being part of the active community (barcamps/etc). If you didn’t have the time to track a startup but are still interested in working for one, heres a quick roadmap on what to do.

What do you do when you find about an opening?

Research / Due diligence:

If you found out about an opportunity make sure you do your due diligence about the startup. Some of the questions to ask are as follows:

• What line of business are they in?
• What does the community (blogs/twitter/comments) say about them?
• Who are their competitors?
• What kind of people are part of the organization (linkedin)?
• Are there blogs/microblogs written by employees/partners/etc?
• What kind of technology are they working on?
• What are their strengths/weaknesses?

If the startup knows that you have done your homework about them thats a great way to start! You have already accomplished a few things:

• made up for any pits falls you might have
• shown that you are pro-active
• shown that you are smart
• shown inclination to work in a startup

Being in a startup is being part of a family. The more you know about your family member the easier it is to navigate & be a happy family! In the age of the internet it takes less than an hour to evaluate a startup.

If you cannot put in an hour for yourself & the company you want to work for, then a startup is not for you! Do it to help yourself & your career if not anyone else.

Look at the flip side of this scenario, you have to ask a zillion questions to know about the startup. The startup has to spend time vetting your interest before they get into the nuts & bolts of your skill set. It is a painful process & honestly a waste of time! A big NO-NO!

In a startup, time is money! Be mindful of it! Don’t waste their time nor yours.
Bottom line  – make sure you do your research before you apply.

Egosurf:

If a startup is going to expect you to do your research, be rest assured the smart startups will be doing their due-diligence on you! We do it here at Taazza every time we get an application. It takes us less than 20 minutes to evaluate the candidate’s online presence. So if you have anything to worry about please be the first one to find it and address it before a company does. Here are a few things to consider:

• Your pictures
• social networking profiles
• your postings onto the groups & social media

Sometimes not having an online presence is better than having a bad one. For a startup your postings to groups matter a lot more than your pictures online. A post to a group that doesn’t show that you do your homework is a deal breaker! You need to be smart enough to run on your own when instructions are given!

Having a online presence helps!

Have an online presence:

If you have a blog thats a start, but having a blog with thought provoking posts is something that is sure to get attention. If you microblog or are active on other forms of social media, thats definitely helpful. Make sure your interests & passion come through in those forums.

Having a good social media presence is sure to get yourself at least 10 minutes with the startup!

Have a linkedin profile:

The days of sending an resume with a long list of projects is coming to an end. Create a linkedin profile and just point us to it. Get your collegues/profs to write a testimonial for you. It goes a long way in helping make your case.

Make sure you understand the requirement:

Most startups are looking for people that are smart but make sure you understand the requirements of the job posting. Find out what your strengths & weaknesses are. Evaluate yourself & question how you can be of help to the startup. A majority of the times candidates do a bad job evaluating themselves and its a tell-tale sign!

It is absolutely important to know your strengths & weaknesses!

Now that you have done your ground work, you are ready to email the startup:

Make sure you realise that this is your one shot at getting their attention & put your best foot forward. Here is what a good job application will contain:

• one line introduction of who you are
• one line note about where you saw the opening
• what inspires you about the startup
• how can you contribute (strengths)
• a link to your linkedin profile

And the end of this journey make sure you have the skills to back yourself up or have the inclination & intelligence to learn! Your journey into a startup will be smooth!

Here are some tools to get you started

Research:

• Blog search (Google blogsearch, bloglines)
• Image search (Flickr)
• Microblog search (twitter)
• Comments search (Backtype)

Resume tools:

• Linkedin.com

Social media tools:

• Start a blog at wordpress.com, typepad.com
• Start a microblog at twitter.com, indenti.ca

We decided to write this article to help candidates applying for startups. So feel free to hit the reblog button and repost on your blog or elsewhere.

Oh, did we mention that we are hiring If you have found this post useful please help us spread the word.