From startups to IT giants. Weigh the pros and cons of each job
We help IT professionals find jobs they love. But all places have their disadvantages that you need to understand before trying to find a job. There is nothing worse than joining a company and after a month realizing that you don’t like it. One aspect to consider is the stage of its development suitable for you.
Here are some reasons for looking for a job in a specific location.
Startups
When you hear the word “startup”, associations immediately arise in your head: creative, cheerful, young, pioneer. There is a desire to enter in the beginning, get a block of shares and become a billionaire. In addition, there is a chance in the long run to completely change the way people interact with the world around them. As it once happened with Google, Uber, Facebook and others.
At the heart of all startups is a brilliant idea for a product that would make life easier for users. This idea is burning a small number of people who work tirelessly to create a minimum viable product (MVP) that will be presented to customers and / or investors. Investors usually come into play when a startup is ready to improve its product and quickly scale the business to attract as many people as possible.
Pros of working in a startup:
The opportunity to try yourself in many roles. If you are hired for the position of a certain developer, after a few months or years you can become a manager, marketer, or head of your direction. You will become familiar with different aspects of the business, your role will not be so clearly defined. This will help broaden your horizons and quickly gain new skills.
Your work is easier to spot. And you can be sure that your work will significantly affect the final product. True, your failures will be as noticeable as your triumphs. But if you are confident in your skills, a good startup will give you the opportunity to grow quickly.
In the startup world, either you eat others or others eat you. Speed of development and relevance to users are key success factors. Therefore, every day will be filled with feelings of rush, creativity and creative energy that will be difficult to find anywhere else.
Startups, especially overseas, often offer their first employees a stake in the company. The chances of success are small, but if everything is realized, the profit can be very solid. Some Apple, Facebook and even Yandex employees became millionaires, having worked for the company for only a couple of years at the beginning of its development.
You can learn from startup founders (including from mistakes). Useful if you ever plan to grow your business. Usually these are purposeful, very smart and self-confident people. In large companies or startups at the second stage of their development (after the start of expansion) you will not have direct access to them.
Cons of working in a startup:
If you like the structure and consistency of the tasks you complete every day, it will be difficult for you to adapt to life in a startup, where new adventures regularly arise.
Startups rarely offer the same salary as the IT giants. Decent compensation is more common among medium-sized companies that have already received their first investors.
Making something out of nothing is hard work. There is less stability and comfort here, there are more “gatherings” until 2 am. If the company does not go public or does not sell, there is no chance of getting something for its share either. The likelihood of failure IT startups in the USA – about 90% (but only 21.5% give up in the first year). In Russia, the percentage is slightly lower, but mergers / exits to the stock exchange are less common.
Medium-sized company
It’s a completely different story if a startup has investors. Or when the company is making enough of its own profit to be concerned with growth rather than survival. The technical processes are already well-established, they know their position in the market and follow the competitors, they have a certain name in the industry. The time has come to go to the next level, the time is very promising and exciting, but it also has its drawbacks.
Pros of working in mid-range companies:
Reaching this stage already means that the business understands how to survive. Less risk for you if you want to work in one place for at least several years.
In a growing company, new roles are regularly opened and teams are created. This is a great opportunity to try a new position for yourself or to become the leader of a newly emerging direction.
Midstage is the stage at which startups start making more money. And this means higher salaries and, possibly, more comfort in the new workplace (nowadays people are used to adding a playroom at this stage).
There is still an opportunity to get stocks or options, and they are also worth something. The chance of success for a company that finances is much higher. A stake in it is no longer a lottery ticket.
The company still retains some of the best aspects of a small firm or startup. You still have the opportunity to work side by side with the true innovators at the helm of the business. And to see a lot of creative people around you. The early team is still at the helm, the founders are actively interested in the life of their brainchild.
There remains part of the notorious “startup atmosphere”, which is so often mentioned in vacancies as the main plus. You see that you can change a lot, that your actions play a role. You see the impact of your work. Employees of large companies sometimes complain that they feel like an insignificant cog in a well-oiled money-making machine. There is no such thing in mid-range companies, the machine has not yet been debugged.
Cons of working in mid-range companies:
Many people love the process of creating an MVP. Here – the product is already there, it is released, it remains to scale it. The most creative and dynamic people can get bored at this stage.
Risk remains an integral part even at this stage of growth. A larger company might want to acquire your startup (like Facebook acquired Instagram), or your firm might take over a smaller organization. In both cases, there will likely be duplicate worker roles. Some people may have to be fired, and your position may be just one of those. The risk of being unemployed here is lower than in a new startup, but it still remains quite serious.
Larger companies require a clear structure to operate effectively. Many people (freelancers, creatives who have seen all the “oldies”) do not tolerate even this level of control and routine. If you’re accustomed to autonomy, it may seem overwhelming that you are being micro-ruled.
International companies and IT giants
We know what you are thinking. “Startups are great, but if Apple or Microsoft knocks on my door, I’ll skip over there!” Everyone has a dream to work at Google, the company is in the top 11 best employers on the planet (by versions Glassdoor). By analogy, many in the Russian Federation want to work at Yandex, despite leaving stories… It is hard not to admire these companies, which in the minds of many have reached an almost mythical status.
But don’t limit your options. Remember, there are hundreds of great companies out there whose names may not yet become household names. Including very large corporations operating on several continents. Do your research, keep an open mind and enjoy the wide range of possibilities available.
Advantages of working for IT giants:
The presence of such a company on your resume will definitely increase your reputation and facilitate your job search in the future. Even if your tasks were not very difficult, and the position is high, at least recruiters know what this place is. The company is respected, it is well known.
A couple of years at Yandex, Andersen or Luxoft can help you build a good network of professional connections. and in the future will serve you as a good helper throughout your working life.
Large companies have a well-built system of “lifting” newcomers. This is not a startup where you have to learn everything yourself, and quickly. IT giants know how to raise good programmers. They can be a great place to start a career.
Inside the IT giants, new directions are regularly developing, which have almost all the advantages of ordinary startups, but with less risks and more potential. You can grow there almost as quickly, you get autonomy and mobility with good resources. Working in such in-house startups can be an incentive for those who are tired of the routine and want to fight.
Most large companies have excellent graduate programs. Here you can start working after graduating from university, immediately undergoing trainings and internships. At the initial stage, it is much more comfortable than starting freelancing or going to a completely unknown company.
Working for a startup or even a medium-sized company is always risky. Even if you show yourself 100%, your company may one day quickly “collapse”. A large, successful and well-established company has almost no such risks. You may well have worked in it all your life, gradually gradually increasing in salary.
The offices of IT giants are legendary. Free food, free gym (or even pool), games room, comfortable lounge, great health benefits, regular parties and hanging out, the list goes on.
In the largest companies, it’s easier to achieve work-life balance. In addition, they can offer the possibility of relocation to one of their foreign offices or to a region of interest to you. This is one of the easiest ways to move.
Cons of working for IT giants:
Interviewing for any job is rarely a pleasure. But in the largest companies that hire hundreds and thousands of candidates every year, the hiring process is long and tedious. Inevitably, you will have to spend a lot of time, and go through several stages of selection, after any of which you can wave your hand.
If you want to progress quickly, keep in mind that your startup colleagues will quickly overtake you in terms of the level of responsibility assigned to them. This is due to the (mostly) rigid hierarchical structure of large companies. In addition, the larger the team, the more competition one has to face in the struggle for promotion. An exception is a startup within the IT giant, where
You will have to get used to the fact that your work will be monitored by key performance indicators, which can be taken into account when increasing your salary and affect career growth.
You may be proud to be hired here, but then you will quickly realize that your entire department is made up of people as successful as you are. This will mean that you have to work much harder to prove yourself and be noticed.
One thing is for sure: working in technology can be challenging, stressful and exhausting, but it never gets boring.
Want to find a job quickly? Launch our telegram bot @g_jobbot… Choose a direction, location and salary. That’s it, then he will send you suitable vacancies – both from startups and from the largest companies. Hero one of our articles so I found out that I was getting 60% less than I could (and quickly fixed it).
What is your opinion? Where did you work and what impressions did you get?
