One of the missions of PitchMe is to connect the best candidates with startups and small companies. For startups, being ‘the best candidate’ means not only having the adequate skillset, but also having the right kind of personality. Startups are more flexible than big corporations and their teams are smaller, so you should be ready to work in different roles and keep up with their dynamic pace.
Personality fit with startups
Would you be a good match for a startup? Check below to see whether you have the necessary skills needed to work in a startup.
Adaptability and flexibility
Let’s start with these two, since we already mentioned them. If you’re okay with change and can adapt to it easily, you might be a good fit for a startup. No matter which industry you’re interested in: if you land a job at a startup, you will probably have to deal with experiments, ongoing adjustments to company processes and constant amendments to products or services you’re delivering. Being tolerant to change and allowing some degree of chaos to your life will definitely help you to thrive in a startup environment.
Proactiveness and independence
At startups, teams are often small and the resources are scarce. As a result, team members have to switch their roles, take on responsibilities and curate broad areas of activities. It is best when someone does the necessary stuff without being told to do so, or being reminded to, nudged, asked twice, etc. First of all, it’s simply a part of good work ethics.
Second of all, team leads and bosses simply don’t have time to manage employees and their to-do lists. Understanding what needs to be done and acting on it independently is kind of, you know, basic.
Creativity and innovativeness
Constant change is actually one of the greatest things about startups! Their fast paced environment requires the ability to think fast and find creative solutions to various problems. Keep in mind that some of these problems have already been solved multiple times by others—so you will have to think about the new answers to the same old questions or about the new ways of addressing the old problems.
In order to be successful in this, you need to be able to think outside the box. But wait—there’s more to it… Sometimes you’ll even have to solve problems that haven’t been addressed before. Here, qualities such as innovativeness and openness might be of help.
Multitasking and tolerance to stress
This is a sad thing to say, but working in a startup will not always be like hanging out in Disneyland. Most likely, there will be deadlines, competition and the pressure to deliver. On the flip side of the coin, working hard always pays off. It will contribute greatly to your professional and personal development. Here and now, though, you will have to multitask and organise your workflow on your own. (Remember what we said before? Independence is key!)
Deadlines and multiple tasks, pressure to deliver and willingness to outperform competition might feel stressful and even become a source of conflict in teams. This is absolutely natural for young dynamic organisations. Alas, there will be hard days and that’s okay. Just be ready for it—and if you are not very tolerant to stress, you can at least develop some healthy ways of dealing with it (healthy eating and sleeping habits might help, along with sports and meditation).
Curiosity and willingness to learn
You may also ask: why work for a startup? Despite its challenges, a startup environment can be truly inspiring and rewarding. It’s difficult to get bored in a startup; not least because you’ll always need to try new things and explore new opportunities. Curiosity is one of those traits that will help you to keep looking for a fresh perspective or an inspiration elsewhere. If you dread the routine of office hours and are eager to learn something new every day, the startup environment might be a good fit for you to flourish.
Read more about how to make startups sustainable.
P.S. If you are new here, let us tell you a bit about PitchMe. PitchMe is an AI based platform that helps you to get matched with your best fit job, for free. We capture your skills, measure them and pitch you to employers. Employers compete for your talent. To try PitchMe now and get matched with your next job, register here. Completing your profile takes less than 5 minutes.
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