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Working for a small company vs a large one
Posted by Mathew Patterson on March 22, 2007 3:22 PM
One of the things I remember wondering about when I was doing my degree was what kind of company would I work for? Would it be a huge company with big impressive offices? An established medium sized business in the city? Or maybe even a startup.
At that point, my main understanding of the corporate world came from a combination of my Dad’s government department office (complete with hilariously named ‘Wang Computers’) and movies like “The Secret of My Success”.
As it turned out over the next 9 years or so, I would work for companies covering all those categories, and for myself. Now that I’ve been here at Freshview for a few months, I wanted to reflect a bit on the differences between them all.
We’re only a small team here at Freshview; Two founders, three employees and a ping pong table. So how does that compare to somewhere like ASX?
Let’s set up a meeting
It’s a cliche, but an accurate one. The bigger the company, the more meetings you end up in, and the less things are actually decided on. So many people who need to be involved means you end up delaying action just to fit them all in.
On the plus side, the catering for meetings is good, particularly if you can get invited to meetings on the executive level. In small companies, you can often have a quick chat while still sitting in front of the actual work, and make a decision on the spot.
Money for something
Depending on the department (or cost centre) you end up in, big companies can often allow you to spend the money to make things happen. If you run the meeting gauntlet and get support from high up, projects can be kick started very quickly.
When you really need to have specific tools or expertise, you can get them. Smaller companies often just can’t afford the expenditure, and need to make do or just wait longer.
To be fair, I’ve also been in large companies where every financial decision went through a process (a word you will learn to hate in big companies) that made you wish for MacGyver like skills to construct your own equipment.
Ongoing education
In my experience, working in bigger companies means easier access to conferences, workshops and training courses. The training budget is set, and you are often required to spend it. I have learnt a lot and met some great people through training arranged by work.
For smaller companies, the cost of the conference plus travel can be a budget breaker. Being in the web industry, the guys here at Freshview get to a lot of web meetups and conferences that are relatively low cost, which is fantastic.
If you work for a different kind of small operation, you may need to do a lot more self education, or be prepared to really justify your education costs. The web industry is fantastic for learning online, and some companies like Freshview make training a focus.
Politics and getting things done (eventually)
Have you seen the movie Office Space? If you have, and you found it painfully funny, you’ve probably worked in a medium or large company. Big companies can sometimes seem to be deliberately preventing anything from actually happening. In a big company, personal politics can be semi-hidden but disruptive.
Small companies can be equally political, but it is usually more obvious, and therefore easier to call out or spot in time to avoid. If you want to be agile in your work, you want to be in a small company, or at least a small team in a big company.
Specialisation
When I was working on big projects, one of my favourite things was being able to hand work off to the professional testers. They did fantastic work on a job I really did not enjoy.
Big companies can find and hire those people who love doing just testing, and let them do it full time. When you don’t have access to those people any more, you feel the loss!
Still, if you enjoy expanding you own skills, a small company where you take on many roles can be fantastic.
The company tipping point
If you start working for a fast growing ‘small’ company, you might soon find it is a medium size company. I’ve got a personal theory that there is a kind of tipping point between a ‘small company’ and a medium sized company.
It’s not how many employees there are, or the turnover. It’s the point when you start to get emails referring to the ‘stationery policy’. When you can’t just go and get a pen from a draw somewhere, and you have to see someone to ‘request a stationery resupply’, you’ve crossed the line.
Your perfect match
Personally, I think on balance I prefer working in a small team. I’ve tried the other options though, and it may be that without that experience I would not have the same opinion now.
Freshview is a great place to work, and I get to take part in shaping it in the future. Maybe one day it will be a large company, and I’ll have to fill in the ‘Form for the requisition of Requisition Forms’ form with the pen I brought from home, or maybe not.
What about you? Do you work for a small company and wish it was bigger? Or are you looking to escape the office block?
alan
wrote on March 22, 2007 7:46 PM
I was looking over the posts on the CampaignMonitor blog, and all the articles are clearly written by people who care a great deal about what they do, and, even more importantly, care about the people who use the tools they build. You 'step into the shoes' of your target market with 'preemptive' articles like 'Can't I just use Outlook' and resource articles about writing better headlines, for instance.
Will those sort of attention to detail/love for detail disappear when you grow into a larger company? Would this ever have happened if a larger company tried to build your apps? Maybe 5 is the magic number!
On this note, do you guys (or should I say Freshview ;) have any plans for other web apps?
Dave Greiner
wrote on March 22, 2007 9:48 PM
Hey Alan, thanks for the kind words about the CM blog, we pour a lot of energy into it and it's very reassuring to hear that you recognize how much we do care. Until 4 months ago, we were a 3 person company and the move to 5 has given us way more time to pour into creating the resources you just mentioned.
Our size has also helped us maintain a personal relationship with a huge chunk of our customers and also gives us a really good idea of the kind of things they need to help get their job done better. Could a much larger company do this? Sure. But as you start to fragment responsibility across the company it's inevitable that some of that knowledge will fall between the cracks.
To be honest, we're still looking to hire and may well have a new position or two open in the coming months, but that's about as far ahead as we look. Given the fact that our customer base is doubling ever 7 or 8 months though, we'd be silly not to ensure we can still offer the best service possible to all our customers, and that may inevitably mean a bigger team.
In terms of other products, we've certainly got some ideas, but right now we're focused on pouring everything into Campaign Monitor and MailBuild. We think they've both got plenty more room for improvement.
Jack
wrote on March 26, 2007 10:41 AM
I agree with all your points. I personally feel that a medium sized company/team is the place for me.
I have found that in smaller companies I have struggled to focus my skills & career direction. As a result I have found myself with a little experience of a lot of different things. This can be rewarding, but it can make it hard to set and achieve goals. Small companies can also vary significantly based purely on the individuals that work there. I guess a small, focussed company made up of great people could have potential as a good place to work.
Big companies, as you mention, tend to be too political & slow moving. You can focus your skills and experience, however achieving goals can still be challenging. As you mention, getting anything done in big company, political environments can be challenging. Often in big companies your experience is largely effected by your manager, so good manager can make a huge difference.
My current, medium sized employer offers a nice balance between variety, focus on career development & achieving goals. I am also part of a fairly small team within the organisation which makes a difference (in a good way).
Deanna
wrote on April 11, 2007 1:22 AM
Man. I've been struggling with this one. I just left a position with a small design firm to go to a corporate gig. The only thing that made me move was the money. There were & continue to be soooo many doubts with my choice. I miss the companionship of my fellow designers...the camaraderie, the goofiness, the ideas being bounced off each other...there were 3 of us total. Things got done there.
Here. Nothing ever gets done. When you think a decision has been made, they take it away & make you start over b/c the appropriate people were not consulted. There is no camaraderie. No one to bounce ideas off of b/c everyone is overpaid & pompous & doesn't care if the company actually does well so long as they do.
But...I have a very very nice imac. All signed up for an event apart. Reimbursed for any book I may want & my paycheck is twice that of the small guy.
Damn I miss it there. I even miss the stress & pressure of coming up with original design after original design. The only thing I don't miss is the tiny amount of time we got to come up with phenomenal work.
If only money didn't make the world go round.
:(
Tom M
wrote on November 14, 2007 3:28 AM
I left a very large company one year ago to be with a small company. The quality of life is much better here. Because the company is local, I am home at a decent hour. Besides the quality of life, the projects they get here a much smaller and less stressful. My only stress is not having enough work to do during the day. I miss the team work and camaraerie and yes the after work happy hour!! Most of all, I miss the larger more challaging and high profile project that look great on my resume. I am happier at home, but not happy with my job...:( . If I could only have both!!!
Nauman Sohail
wrote on March 3, 2010 7:33 PM
I worked for a big IT company which develops advance business solutions for telecom operators. Learning had been great to get your hands wet in the ever growing telecom industry; specially the experience of being on the fly to work at various operators' sites across different regions. So apart from all such exposure, I still struggled to find more directions in my work rather working on same role for around 3 years with no promotions in place. But let's not forget the trainings and workshops I attended during my tenure with so much travelling and enjoying world class luxuries.
Eventually a switch to smaller firm opened more horizons in terms of broader work exposure, trying new set of deliverables and experiencing the senior role and designation. However now I really recall all those great travelling experiences and the feeling as part of a big corporate culture. Gosh! I still miss it all. Nonetheless, I am now focusing on to have my own startup so that I can impart the culture I am looking forward to enjoy myself.
Conclusion is I want more money and travelling while working in a famous organization while also enjoy work exposure and career progression, even its smaller or bigger.
Zena
wrote on March 5, 2010 8:51 AM
I just graduated and I am currently looking for job in a big company. To me, 'big company' means more opportunities, more money, good on your resume, and can open more doors in your future career. I googled and found this bigrecruiters.net. Someone who certainly thinks like me.
Got anything to add?