Why product based companies avoid hiring candidates from services based companies (and how you can fix that)?

What’s stopping your application at product based companies and what you can start doing today to stand out.

If you’ve worked in a services company and are now applying to product startups, you’ve probably wondered this:

“Why don’t product companies shortlist my profile?”

You’ve built good stuff.
You’ve shipped projects for large clients.
You’ve worked under pressure, met deadlines, and followed every instruction.

Still, most product companies don’t respond.

I’ve been there.

I started my career in a services company called Kustard in Mumbai. Later, I worked with product-first startups like MyGlamm and InVideo as a frontend engineer. Today, I run ClanX, where we help startups hire engineers, designers, and PMs every single day.

And this question keeps coming up:

Why do product companies avoid hiring people from services backgrounds?

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Why this happens?

Product companies work very differently from service companies.

Here’s what worries them when hiring from a services background:

• You’ve not seen the full product lifecycle (from idea to launch to iteration)

• You haven’t worked directly with product teams or users

• You may lack experience with product metrics (DAUs, retention, conversions)

• You’ve likely never done A/B testing, user research, or product experiments

• You’re used to building from tickets, not asking why something is needed

• You may not have handled scale — millions of users, complex systems

It’s not about your coding skills.
It’s about how you think, what you’ve been exposed to, and how product-ready you are.

A simple example

Let’s say the signup button is broken.

• In a services setup: You fix the bug and close the task.

• In a product company: You fix the bug, then ask:

  • How many users dropped off because of this?

  • Should we A/B test a different flow?

  • Can we run a recovery email to bring users back?

That extra thought is what product companies look for.

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The real cost of a bad hire

When a product company hires someone who isn't product-ready, it costs them:

• 2+ months of onboarding and hand-holding

• Missed deadlines and slower releases

• Time spent correcting quality issues or gaps in thinking

• Rs 12–18 Lakh if you’re a junior, plus opportunity cost

Startups especially can’t afford this. Every hire matters.

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What you can do (starting today)?

If you’re serious about moving from services to product, here’s how you can stand out:

1. Build a side project and treat it like a real product

2. Contribute to open-source and get feedback from real users

3. Start a blog and write about tech, your learnings, and thought process

4. Connect with founders before applying and show genuine interest

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Takeaways

1. Product companies don’t just hire coders. They hire builders who think about users, business, and scale

2. Your services background isn’t a blocker. You just need to show product thinking through side projects, writing, or open-source

3. One good project can speak louder than a polished resume. Start building today.

Keep learning, keep building.