- Landing a job in venture capital is notoriously difficult because it’s so competitive.
- Emma Halls, a Stem7 Executive Search recruiter, shares what VC firms are looking for in candidates.
- A finance background is often important, but soft skills can help candidates stand out, Halls says.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Emma Halls, a director at Stem7 Executive Search, a recruitment firm for the financial services industry. Business Insider has verified her employment. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Venture capital is one of the hardest sectors to get into because it’s so competitive.
As a recruiter for Stem7 Executive Search, I specialize in placing candidates in venture capital and private equity, particularly in early-stage investment firms. We work with VC firms in London, Palo Alto, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Munich, and New York.
For junior roles, our clients prefer candidates with a background in investment banking or management consulting. But that alone is not enough to land a job in VC.
It’s beneficial if someone has work experience in technology or startups. But they’re also looking for candidates whose CVs show they’re actually passionate about the whole VC ecosystem. It’s not enough to just say you’re passionate on your CV — you need to showcase this through your experience.
VC firms look for networkers and disruptors
This could be through their education; candidates might have done a science or engineering degree and shown they’re curious about how things work. It could be through starting an initiative themselves, such as a university society, or building an app with friends. This shows VC firms that the candidates were always doing things that created some kind of disruption.
One thing we tell candidates is that they’re entering a highly-networked industry. VC firms want to know if applicants have been able to network themselves into some kind of startup role or internship. Have they reached out to people in the ecosystem to build contacts? Have they entered any competitions at university related to startups or business? These things will show a venture capital fund that’s hiring that this person’s got something extra about them.
A key quality our clients look for is the ability to build interpersonal relationships. Have applicants been able to communicate with people and build relationships? Not just talk to people but actually build relationships, which means keeping in touch with that person consistently. The other trait they look out for is emotional intelligence, which comes out more in interviews.
Nailing the interview
Before candidates get to the interview stage, they need to look at what this specific fund does and the industries it operates in. What areas and companies are these particular venture capital funds investing in? What stage of investment are they looking at?
There’s no point applying to a biotech firm and saying they’re really interested in AI. Usually, the process would be that if they get to the interview stage, they will then be asked to talk through their background. They’d be asked questions like, “If you were going to invest in any market at the moment, what would that be?”
Stem7 Executive Search
There are some hot markets out there that our clients are quite interested in candidates having experience in. This includes, but is not limited to, artificial intelligence, biotech and healthtech, climate tech, and financial services.
So, if candidates come to an interview, the person interviewing them will want to know, “What are the investments that we do within our portfolio? Which one do they like? Which one would they invest in and why? Which one would they back to do really well?”
They want to know that the candidate has done a lot of research on their portfolio before they go into the firm.
Candidates without a finance background can stand out
Over the last five years, we’ve seen many different routes into venture capital. People have networked in these areas, and we would advise candidates to absorb all the information available to them via podcasts and social media.
That will help candidates learn more about the areas, but they will also know themselves if they have that real passion and curiosity that will set them apart.
Also, for more niche funds, such as biotech and health, we’ve seen doctors and people with a background in life sciences apply to those areas.
Share what podcasts you listen to
One of the common mistakes candidates make is not listing enough on their CV about all the things they have done that make them stand out. They should ensure they’ve listed everything they’ve done at university, what they’re doing outside work, all the research they’ve done, and even what podcasts they listen to.
Candidates often forget they need to showcase why they think they will be good for the firm. So rather than saying, “I want to have a chance to come and join your firm because your firm is really exciting,” what they should be writing about is, “I would really like to have the opportunity to interview with you because I think I could contribute in these ways.”
Avoid lengthy cover letters
Often, a candidate might write a very, very long cover letter, and essentially, that is not needed. They might trip themselves up unknowingly. Our advice for candidates is that it’s fine to write a few sentences on why specifically they would like to join that organization and why they really like the company’s portfolio. They should outline why they feel that the skills they have are in line with what the company looks for at that level.
If I look at why our candidates get turned down from actual interviews, it’s often because they don’t exemplify that they have certain soft skills. Can they communicate? It’s very easy for candidates to be consumed by their phones instead of talking to people face to face — which will come out in interviews if they don’t have those coveted communication skills.
