So my stars this week aligned really well, and after months of painstaking job-search efforts, I now have an offer each from a Huge, a Mid-size, and a teeny-tiny company, and I'm confused as to which one to take

There are plenty of factors I'm considering, and I know what i'm in for based on lengthy discussions with each one of them, but I'd like to know what experiences some of you have had at work which may have to do with a company's size? I mean benefits wise, career growth wise, work environment wise...?

Thanks

4/27/2006 2:44:33 PM

what are you defining as medium and small?

4/27/2006 2:49:56 PM

Well, that's relative, and may not agree with what the industry says. But in my case, Huge = 10,000+ in the Triangle, Mid-size=600 or so, Small = 4 (I'll be the 5th )

4/27/2006 2:53:46 PM

If its something you love doing & there was equal job security then I'd go for a small group where you could feel like you're making more of a difference. I'd only go for a huge company if the money so outweighed the other factors that it was worth it. The 600 seems like a good place where you could rise through the ranks or hide among the other employees if you didn't want to do too much work.

But since I'll never have 3 job offers at once, I'm not the best person to take advice from.

4/27/2006 2:57:37 PM

i'd go for the mid-size off of the absolute lack of information you have given us unless the small has a great foundation

4/27/2006 2:58:29 PM

I work for a huge company right now, and am averse to working with another huge company, for the visibility reasons. You just get lost in the cube farms. But this offer is *amazing*, almost like a dream job description with excellent benefits, so thats the only reason why I'm still considering them

4/27/2006 3:00:01 PM

fuck the small. i did something similar and fucking hate it. and I came from a large company, well over 40,000 people and you can't beat it.

go large, G.


amsterdam718

4/27/2006 3:00:48 PM

^^^I'm not asking which one you would go for...I'm asking, what have your experiences been?

^ What specific problems did you have with the small ones?


[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 3:15 PM. Reason : y'all are some fast mofos]

4/27/2006 3:01:13 PM

We aren't going to be able to make a good recommendation without knowing the particulars of what you do?

A small technology startup is a massive difference from a small boutique or something.

4/27/2006 3:02:03 PM

I would go for the medium sized company if you're looking to hang around for a good while and perhaps make a name for yourself.

I would be to worried about job security at a place with four guys.

4/27/2006 3:03:18 PM

large is a better experience. less bullshit. your job is more defined. small - you are doing every fucking thing imagineable. it sucks. my hours and requirements go unrecognized. it's like well, we're paying you x amount of dollars you should be doing this and more. with a large company you do extra hours and work hard you get compensated and it's noticed and appreciated.

i wouldn't do a small company unless I owned it.

4/27/2006 3:03:33 PM

^^^Good Point. This could be considered to be on the tech side I guess, but not your run of the mill CSC/CPE/EE stuff. That's all I can say for now.

^Thanks for that feedback, I thought about that, but think about how much faster you can climb the corporate ladder at a smaller firm...? I can see myself being the VP before my 30th birfday.

[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 3:04 PM. Reason : drunk typing]

[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 3:06 PM. Reason : .]

4/27/2006 3:03:54 PM

Stay away from a small tech company unless you like working long hours, being frustrated, and possibly getting the doors shut on you at a moments notice.

That is, unless you are extremely talented at what you do, and you think there is a chance the company will get purchased and you gain mad riches from that.

Quote :

"large is a better experience. less bullshit. your job is more defined. small - you are doing every fucking thing imagineable. it sucks. my hours and requirements go unrecognized. it's like well, we're paying you x amount of dollars you should be doing this and more. with a large company you do extra hours and work hard you get compensated and it's noticed and appreciated."

God christ, you have had a couple of anecdotal experiences but stop thinking every company is like that.

Generally, in a larger company it isn't always easy to slog your way through the politics to either make a real differences and/or get noticed for it if you do. Not all are like this, but generally speaking, the bigger it is the more politics are involved, hope you can play the game or are extremely talented.

[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 3:10 PM. Reason : x]

4/27/2006 3:08:17 PM

Well, the president of the company has no plans of selling it at all. Ever. And then again this is not your regular web startup kinda deal, so its different. They said long hours are discouraged, coz they believe in work-life balance. Hmm.

I agree about what you said about large companies. The amount of BS and red-tape I have to go through for the smallest stuff is mind-boggling.

V The problem with this small company is no scope for international travel. Estoy confusada

[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 3:18 PM. Reason : Off 2 a mtng]

4/27/2006 3:10:40 PM

def take the small one if its a tiny company that has the potential to blow up bigtime, especially if you could help get it off the ground

both your other choices were probably a ~4 man operation at one time

4/27/2006 3:14:36 PM

I think it all depends on the individual and where you are at career wise. I've worked for all three sized companies (I currently work for DuPont) and each has its benefits. I'd agree that you have to work alot harder at a smaller company, but that is where I learned the most since you have to be a jack of all trades to be successful. You also have a better sense of team. At a larger company I would definitely agree that roles are much better defined and there is a good feel of job security. However, doing things on the fly definitely isn't as PC as it was with a smaller company. Meetings occupy alot of my time since there are several projects that I have to share resources with, which wasn't the case at the small company since everyone is working towards the same goal. All in all though, I'm happy at the larger company, but it's more because I'm doing exactly what I want to do with my career.

4/27/2006 3:33:42 PM

Quote :

"large is a better experience. less bullshit. your job is more defined. small - you are doing every fucking thing imagineable. it sucks. my hours and requirements go unrecognized. it's like well, we're paying you x amount of dollars you should be doing this and more. with a large company you do extra hours and work hard you get compensated and it's noticed and appreciated. "

HAHA, i work for Northrop Grumman (which I consider a large company, something like 125,000 employees) and it sounds exactly like you just described a small company.

Quote :

"but think about how much faster you can climb the corporate ladder at a smaller firm...? I can see myself being the VP before my 30th birfday."

I wouldn't count on that. With a big company, there is more likely to be turnover and you can move up. And there will be more positions available. The small company, you have to compete with everyone and not jsut a few.

4/27/2006 3:57:03 PM

600 will not feel any different than 40,000. You will still get lost in a sea of cubes. I've been at Large (at GE now, 300,000 or so world wide), Small (about 10), Medium (200), and another medium to large (1,000).

If you've done the large and don't like it, switch, but 600 won't feel any different, you'll still get lost in the cubes.

4/27/2006 4:10:41 PM

Quote :

"i wouldn't do a small company unless I owned it. "

some form of ownership. other than that you'll be resentful of all the hard work and it'll become just a paycheck. startups suck, G. worst job in my life.


make a decision . . . good or bad at least you learn, eh?

4/27/2006 4:39:46 PM

btw: i work for a startup tech company. interesting technology, but it's a startup and has been a thorn in my side since the first day.

my larger company was VEGAS. no worry about taking time off, no worries about pay, vacation, staying late and not being compensated, etc . . .

4/27/2006 4:41:17 PM

Go with the big one. Most likely better pay, benefits, security. Easier to move around and/or advance your career.

4/27/2006 5:02:48 PM

OK, let me clarify: The small company being mentioned is not a startup, they're just...small (4 in raleigh, 30 or so all over). And none of these are tech really, more like inter-disciplinary engineering. Keep the feedback coming.

4/27/2006 5:38:02 PM