Want to Work for a StartUp? These Sites Can Get You Started

Newly formed companies’ potential for growth drives a lot of interest, both from investors and potential employees. Getting your foot in the door at the ground level in a promising startup can fast-track your career. Though like any investment, joining a startup can pose significant risks. An unexpected turn in earnings or poor management are just a couple of the many reasons why about 90% of startups fail.

But don’t let this discourage you from staying on the cutting edge of innovation and business. By carefully selecting the right startup, it’s easy to cut down on the risk without having to sacrifice the reward.

There isn’t a guaranteed way to predict the likelihood of a new company’s success (if there was, I wouldn’t tell you and I’d be buying stock instead of writing articles). Nevertheless, many sites can help you not only find jobs at startups but also to compare the pros and cons of different companies. Make sure to check out the opportunities on these six sites before you get tunnel vision on one startup.

AngelList

While not as well known as big-name job posting sites, AngelList is geared toward startups. Not only can you visit pages for companies, but you can also check out profiles for their founders. Startups can be tight-knit, so there’s a good chance you’ll be communicating directly with the founder at points. Seeing profiles such as Kris Duggan’s can help put a face behind many startups. AngelList boasts being the largest startup community in the world, with over 130,000 job listings. So make it one of the first stops on your startup hunt.

Indeed

While not as specialized as AngelList, Indeed makes up for in size with what it lacks specificity. Here you’ll be able to find a wide variety of jobs, some of which are posted by startups. While there isn’t a way to whitelist opportunities from startups, you can filter through the plethora of job listings, including starting salary and education requirements. Because Indeed doesn’t require any signup to browse listings, it can be a great tool for scouting many different opportunities if you aren’t dead set on joining a startup.

ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter is similar to Indeed in that it has a wide variety of job listings. Though many companies may have the same listings on both sites, some may choose one over the other due to the different pricing options available through each site. While it’s a good idea to use both to look for job listings, exploring why one company would prefer one over the other may give you some insight into the company’s hiring structure.

Startup.Jobs

Well, this job board’s name gets the point across very efficiently. It is no surprise that Startup.Jobs specializes in connecting startups with potential employees much in the same way that AngelList does. Unlike AngelList, however, Startup.Jobs requires no signup to browse listings. I’ve found that there is typically less information on Startup.Jobs company pages than on AngelList company pages. That said, Startup.Jobs is still a worthwhile site to use while on the hunt for a promising startup.

Mashable

The entertainment and news website? Surely I’ve made some glaring oversight in the purpose of this article, right? Wrong. In fact, Mashable has a section just for job listings in technology. Though potentially more niche than the other sites listed, Mashable’s job board is a hotspot for tech-specific startups. While it may not be the site you browse every day for job listings, it doesn’t hurt to check for opportunities once in a while.

WeWorkRemotely

Though not specifically geared toward startups, WeWorkRemotely inherently has a higher density of jobs in tech than, say, Indeed or Ziprecruiter might. Joining a startup and having to move your whole life because of it can be stressful and risky. By focusing on startups that allow for remote work, not only can you work from anywhere in the country (and sometimes the world), but the ramifications of the startup failing may not have as dire of an effect on your geographic location. With so many tech startups having locations in expensive cities such as New York and San Francisco, the ability to work from home can be a significant financial advantage.

These sites should be used as a tool to find startup opportunities that align with you. Granted, becoming a qualified candidate is usually more difficult than finding a great job listing. Still, using these sites to get a good grasp of the current state of startups in this economic climate can give you that extra bit of confidence to apply when coming across that listing that is right for you.