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5 qualities you can start building now to land your first startup job

Workatstartup

The lack of bureaucracy and freedom to create ideas at startups attract job candidates to work there

Let’s say, you just graduated from university, or you want to change your career to another direction. Well startups can be a great place to start looking.

Working at startup is awesome. Having working experience of three startups made me realise that many job candidates are attracted to work at startups because of the lack of bureaucracy and freedom to create ideas at startup.

Also Read: The new bucket list: Why you should experience life in a startup

But finding an ideal startup job can be challenging. If you are too used to work for corporate company then you need to shift the way you think 180 degree to startup mindset.

Therefore, I can say that working at startups is not suited for everyone. However, there are certain quality sets that will help you work at startups regardless of your experience or area of interest. Here are five essential qualities to work at startups. I hope these tips help you land the startup job you are looking for.

1. Flexibility

This is by far the most important quality. Because most of startups have no structured system, at least not yet. Working at startup is not the same as coming to the office and repeat the same kind of tasks everyday. Instead, you will be working for a variety of tasks and projects. For example, I was originally hired as social media manager at D8ii limited but I’m currently an IT Business Developer at the company.

The ability to flow with flexibility is essential for startups. Once you start working for one, you will be working for so many different tasks and projects that were originally not yours. Katrina Lazaro, HR manager at D8ii limited, said in the interview she was originally hired as HR manager but currently she helps the content editor team and customer service team as well.

Also Read: How can startups avoid these 5 common HR mistakes?

2. Proactive

This comes down with being flexible. If you are reactive and wait for tasks to be assigned, maybe you are not suited to work at startup. Working at startup requires to be proactive and initiative.

There’s no problem if you are inexperienced or super young. The best part of working at startups is that everyone has the potential to leave their legacy in a big way.

3. Entrepreneurial spirit

Possessing an entrepreneurial spirit will boost your success working at startups. Why? Working at startups is all about taking initiative and being innovative. You don’t wait your manager to assign a task. You go look for them, you create them. Come up with an idea.

Also Read: How to be a good millennial boss

4. Having an idea is beautiful, but execution is everything

Having an idea is pretty easy. Especially if you work at startups, you will quickly find out that every colleague will have brilliant ideas too. Most entrepreneurs you may work for will expect from you nothing but this: EXECUTION.

In the startup world, only execution counts. So if you have an idea, work at least half way through it so that you gain buy-in when you share with your peers.

5. Be experimental

This one comes with quality number 2. You need to be experimental to know what works the best. As I’m in charge of social media in D8ii Limited, I keep on experimenting in order to know what works the best for each of our social media channels.

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. It will only help you for your next experiment to get a better result.

If you are looking for a job opportunity to work for startups, I like to search on Angel List.

What do you think?

What are qualities that you think is needed in order to work for startups?

I want to hear from you.

This article is originally published on d8ii.com

The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, submit your post here .

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