Big Company/Small Company
Some people rolled their eyes when they heard I was going to a big company that had thousands of people in one campus. Is big always bad? Is small always good? Here's a short version of my opinion. Comments are welcome and encouraged.
I think that if you can answer yes to ALL of the following questions, your job is okay no matter what size company you're working in.
Are they paying you what you could get somewhere else doing the same job or hopefully more than that?
Are your benefits good enough for you and not so expensive that they take a huge bite out of your check?
On most days do you feel good on the way to work AND on the way home?
The last one is the most important because many of us have put off a better paycheck to stay in a place because of the promise of fun, learning, and stock options that might become Googlized.
Let's run through the most common big company/small company issues.
Who Do You Work With? Whatever the size of your company, you spend almost all your working time with your group. In big companies the groups get to be a dozen. In small companies they may be smaller but not necessarily. In big companies there are groups within groups within groups, etc. but you can ignore most of that. If the people in your immediate group are nice/fun/cool, you're okay wherever you are.
Managers. What's your manager like? I like managers that let you do your job without a lot of interference but are there to support you 100% if you need them. I've had managers like that in both big and small companies. Also, your manager's manager needs to be reasonable too or the stress will follow the laws of gravity and flow down toward you. You do wind up with more managers in big companies but you can disregard almost all of the higher level ones and delete their cheerful mass emails without reading them. There's no guarantee that you can talk higher level managers in big or small companies--I was actively discouraged from speaking to my manager's manager at Widgets. (I did anyway and it was very helpful.)
The Place. Is it a nice place to be in for ten hours a day? Again, I don't think there's a big/small company rule here. Is it so huge you can't find your way? Hey, with some wandering I've been able to find any room I needed to find at Lawyers R Us although I did have to ask for help once (yes, some guys do ask for directions). You get the nice perks at the big places like cafeterias, libraries, and inhouse classes that small places rarely have but that's not important to some people.
Parking. Okay, that is an issue. Luckily I have a lock for my computer now and I don't have to carry it across the parking lots.
Would I leave my big company to go to a small company again? If the job, people and place were right, I'd leave in a hearbeat. My first two and half years at Widgets was the best job I've ever had and that showed me that a small group of people working together can have a lot of fun and do great things. For now though, I'm happy on the big cruise ship.
I think that if you can answer yes to ALL of the following questions, your job is okay no matter what size company you're working in.
Are they paying you what you could get somewhere else doing the same job or hopefully more than that?
Are your benefits good enough for you and not so expensive that they take a huge bite out of your check?
On most days do you feel good on the way to work AND on the way home?
The last one is the most important because many of us have put off a better paycheck to stay in a place because of the promise of fun, learning, and stock options that might become Googlized.
Let's run through the most common big company/small company issues.
Who Do You Work With? Whatever the size of your company, you spend almost all your working time with your group. In big companies the groups get to be a dozen. In small companies they may be smaller but not necessarily. In big companies there are groups within groups within groups, etc. but you can ignore most of that. If the people in your immediate group are nice/fun/cool, you're okay wherever you are.
Managers. What's your manager like? I like managers that let you do your job without a lot of interference but are there to support you 100% if you need them. I've had managers like that in both big and small companies. Also, your manager's manager needs to be reasonable too or the stress will follow the laws of gravity and flow down toward you. You do wind up with more managers in big companies but you can disregard almost all of the higher level ones and delete their cheerful mass emails without reading them. There's no guarantee that you can talk higher level managers in big or small companies--I was actively discouraged from speaking to my manager's manager at Widgets. (I did anyway and it was very helpful.)
The Place. Is it a nice place to be in for ten hours a day? Again, I don't think there's a big/small company rule here. Is it so huge you can't find your way? Hey, with some wandering I've been able to find any room I needed to find at Lawyers R Us although I did have to ask for help once (yes, some guys do ask for directions). You get the nice perks at the big places like cafeterias, libraries, and inhouse classes that small places rarely have but that's not important to some people.
Parking. Okay, that is an issue. Luckily I have a lock for my computer now and I don't have to carry it across the parking lots.
Would I leave my big company to go to a small company again? If the job, people and place were right, I'd leave in a hearbeat. My first two and half years at Widgets was the best job I've ever had and that showed me that a small group of people working together can have a lot of fun and do great things. For now though, I'm happy on the big cruise ship.
posted by changingagain at 5:49 PM
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