Last week we discussed about tips for startup employees on how to build skills. Taking the discussion ahead today, we will talk about when and why they should join a startup job. If you are a college student, here is what you should consider before joining a startup:
Founder credentials: Success of a startup heavily depends on persistence, passion and vision of the startup cofounders. Before you join a startup, make sure you do a study on the founder credentials. Check what their track record has been, what kind of experience they hold and whether you think they can take this startup to heights. You are giving considerable time and efforts for this startup, you surely don’t want to work for nothing.
Role: Check what kind of role are you getting at a startup. Always align the role according to your strength. We all as humans have strengths and weakness and if you play on your strength you can contribute quickly to the startup.
Opportunity to grow: An interesting role will give you enormous opportunity to grow. Startups always prefer promoting their own employees versus hiring externals who are not accustomed to their startup culture. With that in view, do note to take a role that will give you opportunity to grow.
Freehand at learning: While you should definitely be contributing to the startup, it is also important to see how the startup can contribute to you. See what areas of learning would you need exposure to. While you contribute in the fields that you have strengths in, see if you can pick up a small project where you can learn new skills as well.
Networking opportunity: A man is a sum of his network. Whether you stay with a startup or not, your network always stays with you. And that’s why it is important to build your own network as soon as possible. And there is no better opportunity to develop networks than being in a startup. A startup allows you to work with different people, interact with industry leaders and help build alliances and partnerships. Make sure you play a pivotal role in building your relationships and network.
Team-trust: Lastly, before you decide to join, make sure you meet with the team once and see if you can trust them. Most of the times, you would be interacting with the team and if you don’t like the team members, you will be in for some trouble.
If you have any queries, write to Rajeev@TBSPlanet.com or on www.TBSPlanet.com
Rajeev Tamhankar
Twitter@rajeevtamhankar
The writer is IIT-R Alumnus, Entrepreneur of The Year’17 (Print Business) and the Founder of TBS Planet Comics