How to apply for startup jobs effectively

Irony is that you have a much higher response rate when you mail the head directly rather than HR, reports Tech in Asia

Step 1
 

Spend a week making a list of companies you badly want to be a part of. 

Step 2
 

Research the company. You don’t necessarily have to demonstrate a deep understanding of their product or space. Show that you have put in your hours to know them better.

Make notes for:
 

Their market share/traffic. Useful tools for this are SimilarWeb, SEMRush

Their feature set
 

How their product evolved over the months or years. Use WebArchive
 

If they have an Android or iOS app, read their app store reviews to get an idea of how well-loved the app is.
 

Any news article about them. Have they raised funds? Are they partnering with anyone?

Step 3
 

Email the Founder/CXO
 

The irony is that you have a much higher response rate when you mail the head directly rather than HR. HR personnel get hundreds of employement inquiries a day from within their companies and from outside. You will be one among 500 applicants.
 

To get emails, first google ‘[firstname]@[company].com’ and related combinations. If that doesn’t work, use Email Hunter or Clearbit. The free tiers for both these services will most likely be enough to get what you need.
 

Things to Avoid:
 

Disingenuous flattery

“Your company is going to be 10 times bigger, and I want to be part of the journey when you guys reach there.”
 

They will smell your bullshittery even before they open your mail.

Buzzwords
 

These can be words like “big data” and “machine learning.”

Fluff talk
 

“We are only 1% done.”
 

This one is more for the founders. You know who you are.

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here