Have you ever wondered what questions are commonly asked in startup job interviews?
Not feeling very confident for your first startup job interview? That’s all right. For you folks, we have compiled a list of 7 commonly asked startup job interview questions.
But that’s not all!
Compiling the questions isn’t enough, you should know how to answer them too, right? So we’ve included suggestions on how to tackle these common job interview questions.
Ready? Go!
Did you ever have your own Startup?
When startup founders are scouting for their core team, they often reach out to people who have had their own startup in the past. Such people generally know how to get shit done, work their ass off to achieve a goal, and then celebrate accordingly. That attitude is surprisingly not very common, and extremely valuable to early-stage startups.
If you are asked this question in an interview, highlight the journey of your startup, your biggest learnings, your wins and your failures. You must have spent time analysing why things happened in a certain way, or why things didn’t work out. Share your analysis, your method of approach to the problem, etc. in your interview.
In case you’re asked this question in an interview, but you’ve never had your own startup, the best way to go about answering this question is to talk about the ideas you’ve had. Face it, everyone has ideas for startups (these days). Tell them how you went about validating your idea, or how you did market research for the same.
The interviewers want to see that you do things, instead of just thinking about them or planning to do them. Show them what you’ve “DONE” and you’ll leave them impressed.
Have you used our product?
Please don’t ever go a startup job interview that you’re serious about without first using their product. Period. Do you really want to be sitting in a room shifting uncomfortably on your chair while you explain to them how amazing their product is and how you strongly believe in its vision blah blaaaah without first having used it?
Bad idea.
Before your interview, at least spend a day using their product. Depending on the role you are being interviewed for, the answer to this question will vary. But what the interviewers really want to hear is your honest experience about the product, and some insights.
For example, if you are interviewing for a Product Manager role, start by listing 5 redundant features in the product, and your hypothesis for the same. Definitely suggest ways to improve those features, or suggest scrapping them altogether. Just remember, whatever you say, back it up with a valid hypothesis or some hard numbers.
This is especially true for Product and Marketing role interviews. If you can back up your words with data, there’s nothing like it.
Who are our biggest competitors?
Ready for your startup job interview? No, you’re not. Not if you don’t know about their biggest competitors. Interviewers (most commonly startup founders themselves) are looking to hire talented individuals who are aware of what’s going on in the industry.
You need not know the revenue numbers of the startup’s competitors, however having a basic idea of how well they are doing will go a long way in your interview. It’s a topic that might be discussed in brief in most interviews, so it’s best you do your research (it’s easy, seriously) and form some thoughts about the competitors, their methods, their recent round of funding, and things like that.
Where do you see this company heading?
You obviously aren’t going to interview for a company or a startup that you think would go bust in the next 12 months. Why did you apply for that interview? Think about why it’s a good idea for you to further your career in their company or startup. Package those points and present them nicely.
Talk to the interviewers about where you see the company or startup heading. Do you think they have high potential but need a slight change in the revenue model? Suggest it. Trust me, they want to hear those suggestions and are waiting for the right person to identify and bring them up.
Ultimately, they aren’t looking for a person who’s going to tell them that “boss, with your current trajectory and <insert other jargon>, you will reach a $100 million valuation in 5 years.”
They want to hear you say that “maybe if you tried this, your churn rate would drastically improve over the next few months”
Why do you want to work here?
Be honest (but not too honest).
For example – If the salary is very high, tell the interviewers that you are attracted by the compensation package for the job and like that the company is ready to pay top dollar for top talent. But don’t tell them that you want to earn lots of money and they are the easiest way for you to be able to do that.
There could be a number of reasons why you want to join a particular startup or company. Be honest and blunt about the reasons, but not too much either. If it’s the open culture of the workplace that attracts you, or the fact that the job role is one of very high difficulty, mention it in your interview.
Why should we hire you?
Don’t blank out on this one. Answering this question properly in your job interview could land you a job.
This is one of the most important questions in an interview, and it is also one of the best questions for the candidate. Why do I say that? Because with this question, it is completely up to you on how you answer it. No need for company stats, competitor analysis, etc. Everything asked in this question is about you, so make the best of it.
Perhaps the best way to go about answering this question is to start with your relevant skills. If the job is for Marketing, start by talking about your creativity that helps with the job, any relevant examples of where you’ve used your creativity in the past, etc. You might also want to focus on your analytical skills, the ability to measure data, and include an example of where you’ve done that in the past.
Mentioning the results would help. If your past results are positive, then well and good. If they are gloomy, talk about why you think those results aren’t very positive, and what you think could have been done to improve things.
Finally, you can wrap up with talking about how you can leverage your skills and insights from past experiments into doing a great job in the role you’re interviewing for.
Another thing that has high chances of working is telling a story. Remember that one shiny moment from your previous job where you felt proud of yourself for what you accomplished? Talk about that day, tell the interviewers what you did, how you did, and the results. Then give them your analysis, mention the skills you utilized in achieving those results, and finally talk about how you can leverage those skills in their company for achieving similar or even better targets.Do you have any questions for us?
At the end of most interviews, the interviewer often asks the candidate “Do you have any questions for us?”
The most common answer is “No”, or <insert generic question here>. Both answers are a waste since you the question you ask also impacts the chances of you scoring a job from the interview.
So, what should you ask the interviewer? Relevant questions! Questions such as:
What is your vision for the company?
How fast is the company growing?
Do you plan to exit or IPO in the near future?
Do you use your own startup’s product?
Remember to ask smart and relevant questions, and you’ll do good.
