How to Join a Startup Right Out of School

Having great personal projects is key. We're really fortunate to be in an industry where you can so easily showcase your skills &#38; talents.<p>Through my interviews with startups (I'm a college Junior), they were <i>much much</i> more interested in my side-projects than anything school-related. I highlight Projects at the very top of resume, then past Internships, then school-related activities.

I'm hoping this thread will be a good place to get some advice. I'm about to finish undergrad. I was thinking about going to grad school but I really wanted to take a break from academia to see if I would prefer working at a startup. I've found that it is a lot harder than I expected to get hired.<p>I have an extremely good academic record but I can't say I blame companies for not taking that too seriously. I only have one big non-class coding project to my name and it was for research. Sadly, I focused too much on school in the past 4 years and not enough on personal projects. I obviously can't just tell people I'm a good fucking programmer. There is no reason to believe me. Is the best solution to forget job applications for now and start working on a project of my own?

I applied to a few startups for positions that asked for ~5 years experience right out of school.<p>My email usually consisted of asking if they would consider someone of lesser experience (perhaps as a half-year trial) with pay of course commensurate with experience. Some companies seemed very receptive to the concept.<p>Also: EVERYONE I interviewed for was far more impressed with personal projects than academic credentials<p>I got very far with one Boston startup, where they debated internally whether taking me or holding out for someone older would be a better idea, but I eventually took a different offer instead (from a small-company, but not a startup)

Maybe I'm really lucky, but I'm still in school and I've worked for several startups. Being in a start-up city (Austin) definitely helps. And I would go to tech events and ask if anyone is looking for an intern. That's probably the best (i.e. easiest) way. And know the technologies they use (hardly any students know rails), because startups don't have time to train you.