Do you love the idea of building something from the ground up? Get excited about learning new things and being involved in different aspects of a company?

If your answer to these questions is a big, fat ‘hell yeah!’, then joining a startup may be the right next move in your career journey. Of course, deciding you want to work for a startup is the easy part. Convincing the recruitment team that you’re the one for the job can be a little trickier.

As a recruiter, I know a thing or two about interviewing. However, I also know that every hiring team is looking for something different. So I reached out to some other recruitment professionals at startups to get their tips on how candidates can set themselves apart and land their next role.

Ask great questions

“Ask what makes folks successful during the interview process and during the first 90 days,” says Katy Innes, Talent Attraction Manager at Borrowell.

“We look for folks who want to learn and grow. Showing that you are willing to do research into our stack, process, team, goes a long way and ensures the interview will go smoothly.”

Write out your success stories

“The night before your interview, write out five success stories,” says Marlies Farrill, Talent Lead at Properly. “Doing this will give you a boost of confidence.

If you are having a hard time getting started, here are some of her go-to prompts.

Describe a time when you…

• Bounced back from a difficult situation. What did you do to recover?

• Worked amazingly with a team.

• Led a project or initiative that you’re proud of.

• Made a mistake. What did you learn and how have you applied those learnings to other situations?

• Have shined!

Make sure the role is right for you

“Interviews aren’t about getting the job, they’re about moving to the next round and making sure the opportunity is right for you as well,” says Martin Hauck, Head of Talent Acquisition at CaseWare.

Some simple ways to determine if a role is a good fit:

• Ask thoughtful questions. “95% of the people I speak with ask the same questions: What’s the team like? What’s the culture like? These are important, but if they’re the only questions you ask, it doesn’t signal interest in the role. I love when candidates grill me about the position, it shows they’re thinking about the position on a deeper level.”

• Get your interviewers’ opinions. “What do they think some of the challenges of the business are going to be? What do they think the team is missing right now?”

• Do in-depth research on the company. “There’s a ton of information on companies if you Google them and go beyond the first page of results. Websites like Crunchbase and Angelist have more details on funding. Read articles that their leadership has written and cite that in your conversation.”

Explain how you got from Point A to Point B

“In startups, you will always need to experiment and try new things and the only way to be successful is to measure where you start from and where you want to get to,” says Mike Bettley, Director of Talent Acquisition at Opencare.

“I always look for people that look at the world from this vantage point, so make efforts to quantify the impact of your work.”

For example, if you’re a software engineer, don’t just say that you built a web application in Angular. Explain why you built it and how it saved a team member 15 hours of work per week.

“It doesn’t need to be a huge number (a 1% change could be worth millions of dollars!),’” says Mike. “It’s more about showing that you recognize that measuring where you start from and where you finish is critical to understanding if a project is successful or not.”

Show that you can do all of the things…

Okay, not all of the things but it does help to show that you have a breadth of knowledge, according to Lianne Vinebeg, Chief Talent Officer at Talent in the 6ix.

“At startups, you’ll wear multiple hats,” says Lianne. “Let your interviewers know you have other excellent skills aside from your core skill set.”

… but don’t be afraid to talk about what you don’t know

I know, I know. This point seems pretty contradictory to the last one but stay with me. Even if you bring a lot to the table, it’s okay if you don’t check all the boxes on that job posting’s list of desired skills.

Why? Because, recruiters are “open to people who are willing to work hard and learn, more than the most talented person who has zero drive,” says Kimberly Moore, Manager of Talent Attraction at Jobber.

If you don’t have experience doing something or lack knowledge in a particular area, a good way to land in your interviewers’ good books is to explain what you would do in that situation or how you would learn that skill.

“Don’t be afraid to say what you don’t know, because oftentimes, I suffer from Imposter Syndrome as well.”

Be PREP-ared

Adam Gellert, Founder and CEO at HiredHippo, suggests candidates look at the role they’re interviewing for like a business problem that they’ll be solving when they’re hired.

“There’s no ‘best-kept secret’ to acing an interview,” says Adam, but he does have a handy acronym to help candidates prepare for them (pun intended).

PREP stands for potential, research, enthusiasm and polish.

• Potential: “You’ll need to show, either through previous experience or lack thereof, that you’ve got the potential to be successful in the job within 30/60/90 days. Can the interviewer see you in the role already?”

• Research: “Show that you’ve researched their company, the opportunity, and the person you’re meeting with.”

• Enthusiasm: “Can you show how much you care about the business problem you’ll be solving in that position? Did you show up with good, positive energy to the point your passion for the role is infectious?”

• Polish: “You only have 7 seconds to make a good first impression. Did you show up on time? Did you treat everyone (waiter, barista, reception) with respect? Did you push in your chair or hold a door open?”

If you can illustrate these four qualities to the hiring team, you’ll put yourself in the best possible position to land the role.

Get personal

“You are more than just your job title,” says Amanda Steel, Director of People and Culture at Uberflip.

“Personally and professionally, you have strengths and experiences you can leverage to elevate a team or an entire company. Connect what motivates you, what you’re good at, and what you want to learn, not just to the role, but to the mission of the business. You’ll set yourself up for a meaningful conversation.”

Be yourself

“As cliche as it sounds, be yourself. Not a version that says rehearsed lines you think we want to hear,” says Mary Papagiannis, Head of People at Tread.

Be prepared with real examples of times you’ve made a mistake and learned from it and ask questions about things you genuinely care about, advises Mary.

For example, if you’re passionate about innovation, ask the hiring team about how they implement a new process or tool. If you’re really looking to level up in your career, ask them what mentorship looks like in the organization or how often you would get to have 1:1 meetings with your manager.

Doing the above, “shows you’re confident enough to be yourself and are genuinely excited about being in the role,” says Mary.

If you haven’t noticed, there are some common threads among these tips. Go deep with your company research, ask questions about topics you’re genuinely interested in and don’t be afraid to get real with your interviewers about your passions, successes and failures. You’ll be that much closer to landing that coveted spot at that startup.

P.S. Don’t overlook the hyperlinks in this post! Most of the companies these recruiters work for are hiring. Your next role could be just a click away.