Early access to your next career

What is a startup?

The term “startup” can broadly define any company from it’s very beginning days until it becomes publicly traded on the stock exchange. These companies are young and hungry — developing new products and services and growing rapidly to reach as broad a market as possible — but they can also be very well-resourced.

When most people hear the word “startup” they think of a few folks coding software in their garage. While many companies start this way, Shift works with companies that are already many steps down their path to success. Our typical partners have demonstrated traction and raised tens — sometimes hundreds — of millions in funding from their investors and come to us because their teams are growing rapidly and they admire military talent.

But what if I don’t code?

Even the techiest of tech companies requires a broad range of roles and skill sets to succeed. Startups need scrappy problem solvers who want to have broad responsibilities and a “do whatever it takes” attitude. In addition to engineers and data scientists, startups also need recruiters, human resources leaders, salespeople, customer success managers, project and operations managers, and more.

How do I get started?

SkillBridge internships offer a great opportunity to “try before you buy” — for both employer and employee. For your final 3-6 months of service, try out the startup environment and drive value for your host company. While 85% of Shift’s SkillBridge interns convert to full-time hires, occasionally some find that their host company wasn’t the right fit — in which case, we help them explore other opportunities.