Teli Community Digest #1
Hello Teli community,
We’re so excited to welcome you to the very first issue of the Teli Community Digest! If you’re reading this, it means you’ve been accepted into the Teli talent community. We’re really glad you’re here, and it means a lot that you’ve joined us so early on!
Right now we’re working on 3 select placements as we get this two-sided marketplace off the ground. We’re focused on bringing you truly high-signal opportunities instead of flooding your inbox with noise. That does mean a number of you won’t see any matches right away, but we’re hopeful to open up a wider range of roles soon while keeping the quality bar high. Thanks so much for your patience!
In the meantime, this newsletter is a way to stay connected — sharing insights on the early-career startup job market, updates from the community, and stories from candidates and startups. This is our very first issue, and we’ll keep sending these out a few times a month. We’re so grateful to have you with us on this journey!
State of Early-Career Tech & Startup Hiring
Every week it feels like the NYT, WSJ, or some other outlet runs another piece on rising unemployment for early-career talent, especially in tech and startups.
The numbers tell the story. On Handshake for the 2024-2025 school year, job postings fell 15% while applications per job shot up 30%. Layoffs, or cutting/reducing early career hiring, once seen as a red flag are now a sign of strength. CEOs brag about using AI to cut headcount like it’s a badge of honor. Early-career talent is almost always first on the chopping block, whether or not that’s actually more efficient than reducing experienced headcount.
This paper by three Stanford professors, which found a 13% relative decline in employment for workers aged 22-25 in AI-exposed jobs, compared with a 6-9% increase for older workers in the same roles. The reasoning is blunt: younger workers lean on codified, resume-ready skills — exactly the kind of thing AI is built to replace — while older workers lean on tacit, experience-based knowledge that is harder to automate.
On the surface, this seems like a major headwind for Teli’s model. But there’s another lens: candidates are mass applying and mass producing resumes, cover letters, and cold outreach with every AI tool in sight — from everyday LLMs to Simplify to LazyApply. The outcome is what I, and early-stage founders I talk to, call “muck.” Post a job and you’re instantly buried under hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applicants. Half aren’t eligible to work in the US, another 10% are outright fake, 20% don’t meet the job requirements, and only a handful in the remaining 30% might actually be up to standard. In addition, it’s growlingly expensive to post and maintain jobs on LinkedIn. As the noise keeps growing, it creates an opening for a curated matching model.
So…What Now? Getting an Early-Stage Startup Job in 2025
Start with your motivations. Why do you actually want to join an early-stage startup? The right reasons: (1) build your entrepreneurial muscles, (2) take on real responsibility and get shit done without much structure, (3) get excited about an industry you actually care about. The wrong reasons: to get rich quick, collect a fancy title at 22, chase clout, or “do strategy” and manage people before you’ve actually done the work.
Note that this advice is geared mainly toward younger candidates and leans more toward non-technical roles. For many of you, some of this will be straightforward. Thank you to Hannah Zhang for the inspiration for this section!
(1) LinkedIn as Your Landing Page
Make it as easy as possible for a founder, hiring manager, or recruiter to skim and immediately get who you are.
Engage with posts in the industry you’re interested in. Over time, people start to associate you with that space — and some will even start reaching out. Free inbound is always nice.
And if you’ve got the guts to actually post, even better. I’m always jealous of people who post consistently. Done right, it’s an incredible way to show your value.
(2) The Resume
At this point, the main use of resumes is for the initial screen. At Teli, they are the most important data point to parse for our AI-powered matching recommendations. Because of that, it’s critical to make sure your resume is easy to parse, particularly for automated systems.
From my experience, basic templates work best. Parsing systems (including Teli’s to an extent) often struggle with PDFs, especially when it comes to chunking (separating different sections). A simple, well-structured format avoids errors and ensures your skills and experience are read correctly. Here is one of my favorite Overleaf templates. (We’re also considering opening up our AI resume parsing tool to candidates so you can see how your resume comes through on our end, if there’s enough demand.)
If you’re applying for a role, include the specific tools and skills listed in the job description. It’s a small step that makes a real difference. That said, especially at startups, the resume is just one part of the process. Increasingly, career story, interviewing, and execution ability matter more.
(3) Finding Opportunities
First off, using platforms like Teli is a great start. Almost none of the roles we help fill ever make it onto a traditional job board. The whole point of Teli is to save you from wasting dozens — hell, even hundreds — of hours doing the really annoying work of sourcing opportunities. That said, we can’t find roles for everyone, and like in most things, diversification is always helpful. So here are a few extra thoughts:
Standout. A candidate sent a box of donuts to the Delve office after submitting their application. Instant interview. When it’s crowded, it can be better to go down swinging with something bold than blend in with everyone else.
Cold outreach. Still one of the most powerful tools. A few things to keep in mind: (1) prioritize warm-ish leads when you can (shared schools, affiliations, etc.), (2) be specific and write personalized messages with a clear ask and, ideally, something you’re offering in return, and (3) don’t just target people at your dream companies — talk to others in similar roles and be sure to let your friends + friends of friends know what you are looking for.
Scroll on LinkedIn. People in your network, plus 2nd and 3rd degree connections, post informal job openings all the time. These can be great leads. You can even search for posts with “hiring” + “your target role.” In Her Hustle, a newsletter under Teli’s umbrella on female founders, we pull together an opportunities section from exactly these sorts of posts each week. All subscribers are welcome.
Don’t Embarrass Yourself. Email like a professional. Reply all when people are cc’d (shocking how often this gets missed), clean up the ChatGPT formatting + awkward spacing, respond promptly, and definitely don’t forget to send a follow-up note after any interviews or conversations with founders.
Other. A few more channels worth noting: (1) build relationships with recruiters, talent leads, and VC friends, (2) subscribe to relevant newsletters, (3) go to events, join communities, and don’t underestimate joining WhatsApp groups.
Role Corner
These aren’t roles Teli is actively working to fill right now, but I wanted to share a few opportunities people have DMed me about over the past few days. Feel free to reach out if you know anyone who would be a great fit!
📦 A stealth YC- and GC-backed supply chain AI startup is hiring a Founder Associate Intern (converting to full-time) in NYC to work on go-to-market, hiring, and company building alongside the founding team.
📚 An interactive reading platform founded by a recent Harvard grad that boosts comprehension and recall through active questions while you read is seeking a Full-Stack Engineer passionate about education + AI.
💬 An AI wingwoman and therapist that integrates with SMS to help manage stressful relationships is seeking engineering help.
🧘♂️ A VC-backed health startup blending science, wellness, and queer culture is hiring a Founder’s Associate in London to work directly with the CEO.
Meme Cleanser
Not sure if this section will stick, but hopefully it helps lighten your Thursday!
Thank you for reading the first issue of the Teli Community Digest!!
If you have any feedback or recommendations, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at adrian@telilabs.com. Have a great week!