Small startups: acing the interview

For the love of god, finally, something other than leetcode.

Are you tired of collecting consistent paycheck after paycheck? Are you bored of sitting around and watching your bank account grow? Are you looking to “have more ownership over your code”? I was; that’s why I quit my job and started interviewing for positions at the infamous “Bay Area startup.”

I went from working three hours a day at Tesla and making enough money to make an English major shit their pants to duking it out in coding interviews where my competition is three Asian children wearing a trench coat and passing themselves off as a 22-year-old senior engineer with 16 years of coding experience. No worries, tho. At this point, I’m picking up job offers like a Lick Whilmerding student picking up bullshit volunteer offers. Here are some tips I’ve learned along the way.

Startups prioritize different skills.

First thing you should know: Startups have different priorities, unlike larger companies. They move fast and break a lot of eggs. Large companies prioritize things like

• Ability to follow instructions

• Consistency with which you meet expectations

• Writing high-quality code with 0 errors on schedule

This is a plus for startups, but generally, they’re looking for a different worker. Because each worker at a startup will be tasked with more and monitored less, the ability to follow instructions becomes more of a guideline. Now, a huge part of your job is determining your guidelines. In startups, you’ll see the prioritization of skills like

• Being self-driven: can you figure out what needs to be done without micromanaging?

• Being an effective communicator: sometimes, you’ll be the sole expert on a vast knowledge base. It’s crucial that you can communicate what you’re doing to someone who isn’t.

• Understanding software pipelines: startups revolve around shipping code from start to finish, so the more you can do this, the more valuable you are.

How to SHOW this in the interview

Now that we’ve covered what needs to be communicated let's get into how to communicate it. During the time they give you for an initial meeting and interview, you can effectively communicate this in a few ways.

1. Have a portfolio

   Tried and true, having a great portfolio shows you can ship code and understand software pipelines. A compelling portfolio with completed projects is an exceptional way to show potential employers that you don’t need any handholding to get stuff done.

   Here's a software portfolio I love

   Here’s another one

   Some notes on making a good portfolio

   1. Using a template is good, But writing from scratch is better. Creating your UI library from scratch, making templates, and integrating custom components show your passion for what you do and your desire to go above and beyond.

   2. Your portfolio should highlight your interests: If you’re interested in crypto, integrate Wallet Connect. If you’re interested in AI, include the GPT API. This is great because it shows you know how to code what they’re hiring for.

   3. Register a custom domain: bonus points if you can get ‘www.yourename.com’. It’s more professional, and if someone googles your name, hopefully, your portfolio is one of the first things to show up.

      buy your domain