Interviewing at a Startup vs an MNC

There is an eternal dilemma most job seekers face, whether you are a recent graduate or a seasoned professional. Do you opt for a stable role at an established company or take your chance with a startup?

Once an industry term for small businesses, startups now represent a fascinating entrepreneurial culture that an increasing number of people opt for.

But how should there be a difference in the way you approach an interview depending on the organisation?

The interviewer

Multinational companies commonly have full-fledged human resource departments. Often, this means interviews to fill any vacancy consists of multiple rounds and is likely to be conducted by HR professionals at first and subject-matter experts at a later stage. Many companies even hire third-party recruiters to interview candidates on their behalf.

On the contrary, at startups, job applicants are likely to be interviewed by someone at the top position, like a CEO or co-founder.

There also aren’t as many rounds and the interviewers are mainly interested to know how you can add value to their organisation.

Areas of focus

Big organisations typically pay careful attention to the interviewee’s technical skills and level of professionalism. These companies are looking for specialists who are a perfect fit for the job opening. As a result, recruiters will be particularly interested in your experience, training, and how your previous roles have equipped you to fit into a large organisation.

On the other hand, startups often have smaller teams. They might focus on your ability to fit into the workplace and get along with the existing staff. Startups also require employees to perform various roles with minimal supervision and hence prefer self-starters.

Duration of interviews

It is not unsual for job applicants to go through several stages of interviews before receiving a job offer from a large firm. As big firms have clearly defined roles, they put candidates through multiple interviews, as finding the best fit takes time. In fact, these businesses interview and screen applicants for approximately 30 days.

This is in stark contrast to startups, which have a relatively short interview-to-hire process at around 15 days. They typically have shorter cycles because hiring decisions are made by the organisation’s founders or CEOs themselves after conducting the interview. In addition, a short interview process allows them to quickly bring on additional assistance to their fast-paced work culture.

Candidate participation

In most cases, job interviews at well-known companies turn the interviewee into a passive player. You simply respond to the streamlined questions posed by the board of interviewers and wait for a prompt to ask any follow-up queries at the end of the interview.

Interviews at startups are generally less formal. The interviewer may ask you some questions about the company before allowing you to nudge the conversation about adding value to the startup.

While the above variations are not set in stone, they do provide an overview of how the two entities approach interviewing potential candidates. Irrespective of where you are applying, do your homework and learn everything you can about the company.

In case you are new to the process, it may also be beneficial to speak with an HR expert or a mentor and practice throughmock interviews to help you in the process.

(The author is the co-founder of a professional services platform)