Last week, in part one of the Startup Job Seeker series, we got down to the brass tacks of any job hunt - the mighty resume. Updating one’s resume after a startup stint is overwhelming (how do you capture a rollercoaster on a page), so I simplified this process into easy steps to tackle one step at a time:
Select a Resume design / layout you like
Introspect like your life depended on it (read the post for the nitty gritties)
Clean up your resume
Bookmark all job platforms and train the Bots
This week, in part two of the series, we’re going to look at all the creative ways to search for your next startup stint. We’ll warm up with a list of job platforms, some of which you may be using already, and then move on to some of my favourite tried and tested methods that’ll keep the butterflies alive.
Platforms in no particular order:
Subscribe to customised LinkedIn alerts that arrive in your inbox
Startup Jobs for global visibility
Wellfound (formerly AngelList) does some fun newsletters & job updates
Instahyre that has given me some interesting finds
Now on to the fun hacks:
Train the algorithm. Regularly browse the industries you’re interested in so your feeds start surfacing relevant startups, founders, and opportunities.
Read startup news daily. Who got funded? Who’s launching? Who’s hosting events in your city you can attend?
Subscribe to good startup journalism. Eg. The Ken, Inc42. These outlets surface companies long before they become widely known.
Stalk VCs you admire. Venture funds love talking about who they’ve backed. Their portfolios are a great hunting ground for interesting startups.
Map the competition. Like a startup? Use AI to research its competitors and track what they’re building and hiring for.
Use your friend graph. Make a list of where your friends work. Look for openings there and ask for introductions.
Work where startups work. If you can afford it, take a hot desk at a place like WeWork and network with the companies around you.
Follow industry operators. On social media, track founders and experts you respect and see which companies they talk about.
Reverse-engineer job descriptions with AI. Paste the JD into ChatGPT and identify the exact skills and keywords the company cares about.
Use AI to research founders and companies. Drop in a LinkedIn profile, interview, or article and get a quick brief on what they’re building and why.
Practise interviews with AI. Feed it the job description and simulate a startup hiring manager grilling you.
Audit your profile with AI. Ask what a founder or recruiter might infer from your CV or LinkedIn in 10 seconds — and what signals you should strengthen.
Having deployed most of these, I can guarantee you it’s going to be hard. There’s going to be days of radio silence, and others of useless noise. And whether you like it or not, you will need to practice the art of cold calling / emailing / messaging.
But, nothing good ever came out of something easy so stay hungry and keep going until you find what you’re looking for. All the best!
Have any ideas that I’ve not covered? Let me know here! I’m sure it’ll help at least a few of the 1000+ people who read this NL every week!