What Hong Kong Startup Recruiters Look for in Candidates: An Insider’s Take

So you want to get a job at a startup?

In addition to the technical skills you need for any given position, there are quite a few soft skills that we take into consideration.

From screening and interviewing hundreds of applicants looking to get a startup job, I’ve gained some insights that can help you position yourself as an ideal candidate.

A little about me — I’m the internal recruiter at Neat, a FinTech startup here in Hong Kong. I recruit candidates across all our departments here, covering Marketing, Product, Customer Support, Operations, and Finance. Before this, I worked as an external recruiter where I specialized in helping startups build international teams.

If you’re keen to get that startup job, read on for some of those key things we recruiters look for.

You have previous startup experience (or equivalent!)

1. If you’ve already worked in a startup before, it gives me more confidence. These people already know what it’s like to be resourceful with time and budgets, and to take matters into their own hands, since most of the time no one’s going to be there to take care of you.
2. If you don’t have direct startup experience, what I look for is an entrepreneurial mindset or track record, or anything that can show me you’ve got that self-starter attitude. If you’ve been a leader in any associations, done charity work, started a blog or some sort of passion project, I want to hear about it.

2. You can see a problem and become the solution

I look for proactive problem solvers.

In a startup environment things are moving quickly. If there’s an issue or you see an opportunity to take action , we want people who are comfortable taking the first step to bring it up, instead of waiting for work to be placed into their lap.

There’s a character trait that I like to call the “mini CEO” mindset. This is someone who shows a lot of ownership, resourcefulness, and initiative. You can think of it as someone when placed in a given situation can identify things such as:

• What needs to be done
• What are the resources we need
• What can we uniquely bring to the table

Training yourself to think this way makes you the type of candidate that’ll impress us.

3. You’re able to communicate your ideas clearly

Good communication skills are one of the most essential things I look for.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that your English or Chinese has to be flawless — it means that you’re able to clearly convey what’s on your mind, and get the right information across.

Our product owner is a really great example of this. His English isn’t native, but he’s always able to communicate his message very clearly. When he talks about product features, the way he’ll communicate with a developer is different from how he’s going to frame it to someone on our Board, for example.

You have to think about the person you’re communicating with — what they already know and don’t know, and what they care about — and this will help you frame your message in a way that’ll click with them.

4. You have a passion for what you’re doing (or what you want to be doing)

Team members in startups are typically very driven people. They want to make an impact and have a voice in their workplace. If you genuinely enjoy what you do, it gives me confidence that you’ll be motivated to give 110% when you’re here.

How we can see passion is through whether the person has a blog, video content, or a society they’re active in.

I’m always hearing people say that they’re passionate about FinTech when they’re interviewing with Neat. But the problem is that I don’t see anything on their LinkedIn or website that can support it, so sometimes it comes across as just telling me what I want to hear.

I look for signs that you’re active in the community on your own time — developers are on GitHub for example, and others may write blog content, or share relevant articles on LinkedIn. Of course, there are other ways to convey your passion, but these are the things I see in the best candidate profiles.

5. You understand how your unique skills provide value to the company

Do you have an understanding of what this role is and how it directly impacts the company?

I look for people who have done their research on the company and have been able to see how they can fit into the team. They have thought about the opportunity and the company and the market fit. He or she would have already understood the unique skills they have (or lack) in relation to the role, and can educate me in a humble way how they can add value to the company.

For example, there was something that a candidate did once that really stood out to me. She took one of the tasks outlined in the job description for the role she was looking for and did a mock-up of it. She wrote a simple blog post, as if she were writing for the company, and brought it to the interview. This showed me that she understood the company’s audience, goals, and product, and gave me an example of what her contribution could look like.

Of course, you don’t have to do exactly this, but this is one way to demonstrate that you understand the role and company.

So you want to join a startup?

Aside from your technical skills, if you can show that you have the soft qualities we need — things like initiative, passion, and an entrepreneurial spirit — we want to talk to you. Hope this post has given ideas on what to convey during your job application process!

If you’re interested in opportunities at Neat check out our page on Happyer, and feel free to give us a follow on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram!

Vivien is the recruiter at Neat, a FinTech startup based in Hong Kong. Neat is a fully digital alternative to banks, opening business accounts for entrepreneurs, startups, and SMEs.

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