Six ways to find a startup job or internship by summer

Are you still looking for a job or internship for this summer? Want to work at a company that invites innovation, collaboration, problem solving, and gives you opportunity for growth? Here are six great ways to find a job or internship at a startup! 

Quick Tip: you don’t have to try them all—pick one or two and see how well they work for you!

Check out Handshake!

Handshake has thousands of internships and jobs posted monthly. CU Boulder’s Handshake is filled with employers who recruit specifically with us to find talented Buffs. Since Handshake is unique to each university, our platform has hundreds of positions that you won’t find anywhere else. Better yet, we’ve curated a custom list of local Colorado Startups so that searching for positions is even easier for you! If you’re looking outside of Colorado, an easy way to find positions is to keyword search for terms like “startup” or “venture capital” in the job search bar.

Attend Startups2Students!

We will have our next Startups2Students event on April 8. Register here and we’ll update you with attending companies and their openings. Startups2Students is a chance for you to hear companies pitch what they do and open job opportunities! If you see a fit, you can connect with companies afterward to introduce yourself. A lot of students get hired at these events!

Enjoy the New Venture Challenge

RSVP and join us on April 23 for the New Venture Challenge (NVC), CU Boulder’s showcase entrepreneurial event. Hundreds of students and community members will be at NVC. This is a great chance to hear from some of the top student, staff and faculty founded startups! And, among our amazing attendees will be people who work at startups. Connecting with others in the audience could be a great way to unlock an opportunity this summer!

Get Involved with Local Startup Organizations

Sometimes the best way to find a job is by accident. Meeting people involved in the startup scene can create random chance encounters and open up doors for you. You might consider joining the Boulder Venture Club on campus for one of their events, attending the Boulder Startup Week in May or attending events through Colorado Startups.

Reach Out to Startups you Like

Startups don’t always have the time or space to promote internship programs or post openings on job boards. Sometimes, the best way to find an opening is by making a connection at a local startup. That can come through networking or simply messaging the startup through LinkedIn or a contact page on their website. Craft an “elevator pitch” to introduce yourself and ask if there are any current openings!

Search on other Job Boards

While Handshake is an amazing resource, it isn’t the only one. You can also find startup positions on other job boards. Colorado Startups mentioned above has a Slack channel for opportunities. BuiltInColorado is a great site for startup opportunities. There are also similar websites for many other metro areas and states! You can also use large job boards like LinkedIn, Indeed.