> While a company might pride itself in hiring generalists and "we do a bit of everything", very often they're just looking for someone to fill a specific posit

> While a company might pride itself in hiring generalists and "we do a bit of everything", very often they're just looking for someone to fill a specific position for a very specific need. Those needs might change in 3 months, (and then they'll be glad you're a generalist), but they're hiring someone to fill the gap NOW. So in other words: The startups present plain lies in their job requirements and complain that the people that submit an application don't fit what they really want. IMHO the easiest solution would simply to be honest...