Working at a startup can be a very rewarding experience. It’s a place where you can learn incredibly quickly, work with very smart people and most importantly help build something that can change the world.
But finding a job at a startup is very different than finding a regular corporate job. Most small startups do not have set recruiting process and do not follow a specific timeline. So if you are interested in working at a startup, it’s important to be proactive and initiate the communication rather than wait for a job posting. Connecting with Carleton alumni who are currently working at startups is a great way to learn more and build connections.
There are hundreds of startups out there that are working on vastly different topics. So it’s important to think about what type of problems would you want to solve. Below we’ve posted some resources that can be helpful for discovering startups, learning more about what it’s like to work in one and some online job portals that are specifically designated for startup jobs.
Finding Startups
There are so many startups out there that it can be hard to know where to start looking. A couple of great resources to find out about what startups to explore more are:
- The Breakout List – It’s a maintained by a student at Stanford and lists start-ups that are on a breakout trajectory. The website is designed to help young people decide which companies to join in order to have a rewarding career in tech. The website also has links many great articles on how to think about careers at start-up and how to identify the best opportunities.
- 2016 Wealthfront Career-Launching – Wealthfront, one of the fastest growing fintech startup, comes out with a list of great startups of join. This is also a great place to discover and learn more about companies.
- Mattermark – Probably one of the best tools to keep track of growing startups. It’s filled with data on employees, funding, competitors and industries. Great place to keep track of all the startups you find interesting. They also have an iOS app, nothing on Android yet though.
- Crunchbase – Similar to Mattermark but much more focused on funding rounds. Crunchbase keeps track of how many rounds and how much funding a company has gotten, lists investors, founding team and also links articles written about the startup.
Startup Job Portals
- SciTechsperience – SciTechsperience is the internship program that connects college students studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines to paid internships in small to mid-sized Minnesota companies.
- AngelList: The most extensive job portal dedicated to tech start-ups. You can filter jobs based on position, location, startup size, startup’s funding rounds and many more. Similar to LinkedIn, it also allows you to connect and message people.
- Planted: A startup that focuses on finding non-technical jobs at startups in New York area. Non technical roles include positions in sales, business development, customer experience, operations etc. A great resource for non-CS majors to find jobs at startups.
- Top Startups: Find your hyper-growth startup. Currently features 1K+ startups and 40K+ jobs.
- Venture-Loop: Does not have the best design, but it aggregates job openings from startups that are backed by Venture Capital Firms. You can sort through the position, name of startup and who funds them. A great resource for finding opportunities at well vetted companies.