Because everyone wears lots of hats, you learn lots of hats: everyone does some tech, some admin, some sales, some customer support...sometimes you run out and bring lunch, sometimes you vacuum up at the end of the day, sometimes you place orders for 50 new servers, sometimes you explain to the venture capitalists why their million-dollar advertising campaign fell through (that one, sadly, was me). At a small company you’ll probably know everyone from the receptionist all the way up to the boss. It's not clear to me whether or not you're asking as an intern or a career choice. Merck is based in Kenilworth, New Jersey. Of course, working with unpleasant people is a universal threat, but the damaging effects can be more pronounced if there's a web of superiors and management departments between you and the part of the company you'd rather be working for. I've worked for the like of Eastman Kodak (10 years ago) and Ceridian and have come to the conclusion that those type of development environments have a strong commitment to mediocrity. It's more like driving an aircraft carrier." This isn't the right route for everyone, but if you want to go into a job with a sense of stability and a well-defined path for advancement, larger companies typically have great templates already in place. Success collates with itself and over time, a small company becomes a large one, gaining unique perks and advantages in the market. Large companies need a lot of people working a wide variety of jobs to operate. As one Google engineer puts it: "Your quality of life will vary greatly depending on the team you get assigned to. And do you want to do this because you want a different risk/reward ratio or because you get bored? If you're angling to get in at a Fortune 500 company, here are some downsides to consider: Shaking things up at a big company can take a lot of time. I'm not sure exactly what the implications of letting someone find out what company it is, so I wouldn't feel 100% comfortable giving that information out. Big pharmaceutical companies have facilities and offices all over the country and the world. Obviously, a good employee would want to minimize failure regardless of who can see, but it never feels good when the majority of your coworkers all know when you've made a mistake. If you're a vital player, then it doesn't matter if the company is large or small, but if your responsibilities and skills are not unique or critical, and you're in middle management or below, when the dough stops rolling in, you're more of an obvious target at a smaller place. The advantages: no positions, no titles, no assigned duties, no overhead, no meetings, no IT department, no weird restrictions, no secretaries... just a handful of people drinking beer and solving technical puzzles. Let us know below. While not everyone takes on projects as ambitious as redesigning a mobile operating system, many of us will want to leave our mark on the company we work for. It's not unlike "which is better, a small private college or a huge state university?" Browse Open Jobs Consider the structure, your role, and your future when deciding what size company is the best fit for you. IMHO working at large companies sucks ballz. “There’s going to be more personal relationships,” says Campbell. In a big company, everything will be organized. This happens a lot: people get comfortable. It is completely fantastic, but absolutely critical that everyone gets along very well. Working for a large companies isn't all rainbows and unicorns, however. Now a small startup is a whole different story. A study by ADP showed that just over half of eligible part-time employees of large companies actually enroll in company benefits plans. No matter how social or friendly you are, if you work in a company with hundreds or even thousands of employees, it will be impossible to know everyone. I'm going to be a recent college grad and I've got two offers, one from a very large company, and another from a pretty successful startup that started about 6 years ago and now has about 200 employees with just 40 in development/engineering. What are the pros and cons of working for a large enterprise (let’s say 30 employees or more) vs. a small business of about 3-10 employees? Even if your company is open to new ideas (which isn't always a given), getting your department to move to a new model or create a product can take a lot of time. Also, the smaller company is located in a great place and just seems to be a lot of fun, though that's not to say that I wouldn't enjoy working at the big company. Working for a company that only employs a few dozen people may not offer the same scale as a Fortune 500 corporation, but there are still a few perks to being employed at a place where everybody knows everybody and everybody calls you friend. What has attracted you to a big corporation or a small business? I feel like I'd want to move around maybe after working at the same place for 4-5 years at least. If you're looking for somewhere to get a check week after week, come in do some bullshit, make it look like you were working and just go home and leave it all behind you then the big box companies are ideal for you. Just because you can call up your company's CEO directly doesn't mean all your problems will be solved. Big companies monitor their manager effectiveness closely, and don't tolerate too much crap (there are plenty of mid-level applicants waiting to fill their shoes, so they can demote poor performers back into the ranks with no risk at all). If you need benefits and the company you're applying to doesn't offer them, it's more prudent to find one that does rather than hoping that you'll get what you need some day. In a larger company, you may be able to switch to a different job and exercise a different skill set without leaving your company. That large business might post a couple of thousands of jobs while a small company might post two or three. – Nimble. Or should you go for a small company and potentially be a big fish trapped in a small pond? The disadvantages: no room to move up. Worse, in my opinion, is that they often have wide fluctuation in the quality and caliber of their managers. Similarities. There are over 1 million small employers, compared to just over 3,000 large ones, so your selection when applying for a job is much greater. A year later, here is my take on the similarities and differences between working at a Big Four firm versus a regional firm like Kreischer Miller. If you're in a startup situation, you might be able to hold out until the outfit grows enough to begin offering things like health insurance, but be aware that hoping for something to come from nothing is almost always a gamble. That being said, there's no right or wrong answer and it will largely depend on what you hope to accomplish and how you work best in an organization. What may take days or weeks of submission and approval processes at a big company may take knocking on your boss's door at a small one. If you’re still in the beginning stages of your business, you probably have fewer vendors, smaller numbers of customer accounts, and a smaller general ledger chart of accounts. Working for the Big Boys If you work for a big company, it's hard to change the environment. Being able to speak directly to your upper management and voice concerns or pitch ideas can result in much faster movement. As stated earlier, smaller companies typically don't have as extensive of a benefits package as larger companies do. They either grow or are subsumed or they die. thanks for your advice :). Monday's Best Deals: Tenet Blu-ray, NFL Mugs, Cuisinart Slow Cooker, Outdoor Heaters, and More. The point is, almost no small company stays small -- they're non-sustainable. When you land a new account, it's a huge deal.". Pfizer headquarters are in New York City. It's important to keep in mind not just where you'll get paid the most or have the best benefits, but where your particular personality and set of skills can be utilized most efficiently. (not sure about this). If you would like to protect your identity, I understand, but if you feel comfortable revealing the companies, then it would be helpful (or at least the bigger one). Here are a few that can help you: When you enter a large company, you're taking part in a machine that's been around for a long time. Small companies are usually more nimble than their large-company counterparts. Not everyone is built to thrive in a corporation with thousands of employees. A good company will provide a method for employees to voice serious concerns to upper management, but this isn't always guaranteed or effective. Basically every advice thread on HN or reddit aimed at new grads will have multiple people chime in on how the experience you get at startups is better than the experience you'll get slaving away at a big company. The Pros of Working for a Small Company Being employed by a small-size company offers many benefits to your career: Nearly 18 months later, Android had a new look, but according to Duarte, it took a long time to get there: ""Coming in and being put in charge of the design and UX for this enormously successful platform that now has years of legacy behind it. Particularly in the legal department, keeping a lawyer on retainer is expensive, but there's a reason for that: knowing whether something you want to do is legal is extremely valuable and difficult to figure out on your own. Especially in a startup environment, you may be called on to fulfill more roles outside a narrowly-defined job description. At a large, established company, most roles are highly specialized, and when a new problem occurs, it will be addressed by the person or team with that specific set of skills. For a small company, I mean one with less than five employees and where all employees are working from the same location – a small consultancy or a startup, for example. According to a recent study, only 47% of companies in the U.S. with 2-99 employees offered any benefits at all. Here are a few things to keep in mind before joining the underdog: Knowing your company's CEO can see it when you land a big client is great. “If you get along then it may feel like a family, but on the other hand if you don’t get along, you don’t have the distance of a big company.” You Get to Wear More Hats If you feel like you fit in, you'll feel more comfortable. On the other hand, they tend to have fantastic benefit structures (like HR departments that can actually do their job), decent training opportunities, smooth travel reimbursements, pleasant facilities, and -- most important of all -- a well-trained and professional management cadre. At a small company, however, great work can be seen by everyone. Ultimately, what company you go with will be largely determined by where you fit best. Dear Lifehacker,I'm job hunting right now and I can't decide between pursuing a job at a smaller company with a lot of growth potential, or a larger, more established organization. Advantages of Working at a Small Company. Not much is planned ahead except for vague understandings and the immediate future. Johnson & Johnson, which is considered a medical device company by Wall Street, as opposed to a drug company, is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Advantages of a Big Company. Working with a dysfunctional group can bring down the quality of your work, despite your best efforts. Determining the difference between the definition of a small business and a large business depends on a number of factors, including the type of business, number of employees and annual receipts, each calculated over various periods of time. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. I would prefer to provide more details in the DM so would be great if relevant guys can pitch in.#finance #hft Thanks Everyone I've ever asked has stated a preference for smaller companies, and regrets the time they spent at large firms. Similarly, only 77% of eligible full-time employees elect to sign up. My question is which would be a better place to start my career? He transitioned from having 80,000 people reporting to him as the COO of Delta to being the CEO of Red Hat , … I've seen this happen to bright, skilled, talented engineers over and over and over. You seem to have a not so good workplace. They get increasingly skilled in an increasingly tiny niche field and 3 years turns into 7 turns into 15 and suddenly you start to think the world's passing you by, you've walled yourself into a crevice with no out, but now you're afraid to leave because you've haven't updated your resume in 15 years and you haven't sat the other side of an interview desk in ages and you're literally terrified to leave your job because you've forgotten how to look for another one. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Are we turning left yet?"". This may be easier in a smaller company than a large one. A subreddit for those with questions about working in the tech industry or in a computer-science-related job. Some people show special interest in working for a big company, while others are more willing to work for small ones. I would also mention job security. It may even affect your ability to move up in the company. 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