[tonystubblebine]

Write and release code. Startups often say that they have to hire great people, but I know plenty that would be happy with a junior person. What they can't handle is someone who requires a lot of hand holding.

The engineers are going to google you before you interview. If they can't find anything to judge you on they're going to ask you the same questions they would ask themselves (often full of gotchas that you would only know if you actually worked at the company).

If you have released code, they can judge you before hand, make a decision about whether they have a need for someone at your level, and then re-orient their interview questions to whether or not they like you enough to work with you.

Sorry if I incorrectly assumed junior, although frankly a lot of start up engineers would assume that no matter what if they can't find an public contributions from you.

If you're not sure what build you might try building something using the startup's API.

[lux]

Agreed! It's amazing how many applicants you get that have only ever written code for school assignments or other jobs. Contribute to OS, start a project, just do something visible! It also shows you actually like what you do, which startups are definitely looking for.

[deepster]

Contributing to OSS would definitely make a candidate stand out in my eyes. Not to mention that you can also review his/her code. Few things in life are more annoying than interviewing a candidate who's fancies himself a programmer b/c he read a "Program ____ in 24 hours".