I started in a very small company and learned a lot and would not give that experience up for anything. However, since then I have worked for other small companies and found the environments to be toxic and conducive to people who enjoy being a "big" fish in a small pond where they can bully and mistreat others. I now work for a large, global company and it fits me perfectly. The organization is too big for any one personality to dominate and everyone treats each other respectfully.
I could not agree more with the op and commenters here. Larger companies have less "fish pond issues" but you can find yourself in a silo there too... where not necessarily latest tech is used and so on (loads of tech debt...). In my experience this happens when a company grows suddenly then the management wants to run it as a startup but that doesn't work anymore. Going for a recognised brand should be better in regards of culture and using latest tech, but it's not always the case (and it's almost impossible to know before joining even during the interview process since they are interested in hiring you and you want to get hired too) The culture interview stage is usually your typical HR interview and it is still hard to tell how things really work at the company you are applying for. Best thing is when you know someone inside or that has recently worked there then you can get a much better picture.
I prefer a well run large corporation. The structure protects the hard working employees where as in a small business hard working employees are easily taken advantage of.
true! i'm (currently) working in a small company in the building industry because i wanted to gain overall experience in all aspects of the job. that works out but on the other side i've lost count on how many times my bosses pretended a "but we re friends" - attitude to coax me into unpaid hours because of someone else's poor work/decision 🙄 for the team blah blah blah
@@mara2382 I agree with both of you and with the video maker (Brent?/Brian?). In my experience, smaller companies provide more experience and a bigger understanding of how everything works because you're usually doing various jobs which would be 3-4 different positions at a large company. And when a new type of task comes along, your boss will easily tell you to do it. On the other hand, in bigger companies, your boss is going to have to really think through if the new task should be burdened on your team of eight people, or it should be done by another team/department or if they need to hire new people entirely. Also, if you try to take on 3-4 positions (do the job of someone else), you could be blamed or questioned. So although the workload is usually more humane, you usually learn less.
Yes. And big corporations will spend to get the best, small ones just expect people to fall within their pathetic salary structure. And that explains why small corporations has more buffoons.
@@mara2382 yeah im the person who if given time will work to get job done on time. but its not on me that someone took longer to check on me. im still only working the set 40h.
As a software developer, I've found that point #2 is the opposite. Smaller companies are usually quicker to adopt newer technologies while larger companies are very slow to adopt new tech. Again, this is from a software development point of view so I'm referring to the tools/frameworkds that we use to build applications and websites.
As someone who worked for a small company... he is right about #2 my job never updated anything everything is from the 90s/2000s which is very outdated and they don’t plan on getting with the new times
If all of the files are stored in a huge, complicated old-ass program that crashes a lot, sometimea people are slow to migrate it. Plus: if a lot of employees have been using said program for forever, they may not want to learn something new, even though it would actually make their work easier
yeh was gonna say. Most of the big companies I have seen have outdated databases, are only now getting into cloud, still use skype, use old tech stacks etc. Newer companies are generally much more nimble with less regulations and hoops to jump through, so if you want to use the latest tech, you can go ahead.
This is definitely a grey area. My small company was more elastic when it first kicked off - but the tech they adopted with their startup freedom wound up just being really niche in the long run (think - lisp, etc). I love working with it though. Honestly, it'd be neat to see more companies use functional programming.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff In some circumstances there's a valid reason for this situation which works well. The difference is can they separate work issues and personal issues? Most can't. There are exceptions: I have been working in a business that is owned by my father and his business partner with me, my father, my mother since the inception of the business (over 21 years). The toxicity that has arisen has almost always been from regular hires and the few times any has come from my family members they were disciplined, demoted, or fired as necessary. Most of the toxicity came from people hired on in a managerial capacity who after a couple of years getting the "holier than though" attitude and started making decisions and doing things they were not authorized in their role to do. Yes, that does include my EX wife who was also fired after one too many customer complaints about her condescending attitude. I was a part of (and in favor of) the firing decision because the infractions were negatively impacting the business and 100% fireable offenses.
I find it amusing how people blame the hired help for being the main ones that bring problems to a family run company. As someone that's worked mainly for small family run businesses all my life I can confirm that this type of business are very hard to work for!. There is little to no recourse for issues that arise between hired help and the family members (usually they are all in leadership positions) as the family is not going anywhere but employees are disposable they fire & hire at the drop of a hat mainly over interpersonal issues. The first company I worked at for nearly 8 years was great, the owner and his family ran it very well, no issues at all. They all had clear boundaries and kept everything professional between everyone at work. Many family run companies do not and tempers, emotions flare constantly as I have found out recently at my last few and this current job.
Small company has lots of meanings. It could be a mom and pop business, but it could also be a start-up founded by seasoned professionals with lots of expertise and connections in the industry.
I like working for larger companies. The times I've worked in smaller companies there's much less structure and less organized. Often doing things way outside your role and it's hard to stay on track since you're constantly getting pulled to do something else
I’ve worked for small companies for the past 15 years and they’ve all taken advantage of their employees and had poor culture. I’m using your channel to brush up on my interview skills so that I can move to a larger company!
I agree with you!! Just got out of a small company and I very much dislike it!! They don’t believe in giving you breaks as well 🙄 they think a lunch break is all you need out of a almost 10 hour shift 🙄 and you only get lunch if you work a full day anything less than 8 they don’t give you a lunch break
Small companies are usually better. In a large company you are just a number. Everything is done with generic procedures. You are overwhelmingly judged by idiotic metrics rather than actual talent and contributions. Oftentimes, I see coworkers spending more time manipulating silly metrics rather than doing quality work. The boss is usually fine with it because your numbers make his numbers look good. Smaller companies often let employees use their talents. Oftentimes you are actually recognized by accomplishments. I currently work for a mega corporation that only seems to care about cookie cutter metrics. Most of us are very inefficient because we have to focus on metrics looking good. Customers really suffer and management can't figure out why customers are dropping us 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@@tongpoo8985 It's a chaotic mess. The manager wants you to feel like you are constantly on the verge of getting fired and he works you to the bone. Favoritism runs rampant. Raises are mostly non-existent... Funny thing is that I have enough savings for probably 4-5 years, but won't walk away for some reason 🤣🤣🤣
Generally speaking I think it's better to work for large companies but this sounds like one of those exceptions. If the position you're in lends itself to these kinds of abuses then you're better off in a small company.
Interestingly my personal experience is that you are more likely to have a wider area of expertise in a small company. Big companies love to create silos and few people get to work across them, most people are limited to their silo responsibilities. Also I saw more "cutting edge" stuff coming from startups and being acquired by bigger guys than originally developed by big companies. Well, at least in the area of technology. Big shots, of course, look better on the resume.
Big Companies do know that Silos are toxic for the employees for individual growth as well as for the company as a whole. Sometimes middle and upper management can get away with it for their own internal reasons but it's also a good sign that layoffs/reorganizations are on the way.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff And how do you land a job at a larger company as a software developer (and get paid what you're worth) when your 20+ years of experience is at two small companies as the sole developer who conceived of, designed, architected and implemented the entire suite of software? I have the demonstrable skills. I have the projects that have impressed other business owners and managers in this niche field who have expressed wanting to license the software because the one(s) they use are "crap" (their words) compared to mine because they are not not actually designed for the niche. I have a POS that a sales representative of a highly popular expensive POS system has said "Your POS has a lot more features, uses, and is almost too easy to use! Add these reporting capabilities and I can sell this better than the one I am currently selling." I keep the rights to the source code I produce for this company under the condition they have a perpetual no-cost license to use any and all features of the platform so I can license it. I have had several people who have expressed interested in being a business partner but I can't do it until I get enough income or "seed" (< 100K) to pay my bills while I work on getting it to a solid licensable state without having to dedicate 40 hours a week to another company to do so. I have the experience to very quickly learn any programming language or technology needed. But that doesn't matter. I don't have any "social network" (I hate social media!). I don't have the "right technologies" because I don't use them on a daily basis but I am still more knowledgeable (to my surprise) on those technologies than a lot of my peers who *do* use them daily. I don't have "team experience" since I have been the sole developer. But I don't work on an island in these businesses. I still work as a team with all areas of the business to become intimately aware of the duties of each area to know what problem areas are and how to solve them in software. I work with owners, managers, customers, users, etc. while developing and working on the software to get as much feedback as possible during the development phase. None of that shows up on resume.
Tip on getting your foot in a big company: internship or contract work. I worked as a contractor for two major automotive companies.. The pay was mediocre and its frustrating that my skills are above and beyond my co-workers while they get full benefits+higher pay. After 3 years, I was able to land a job at a major tech company making 3x as much. Sometimes when you're fresh out of college, you gotta work those shitty contract positions at a major corporation.
The way some huge companies exploit contractors is disgusting. I got to experience it first hand from a corporation widely praised in the local media (Italy) for supposedly putting people first. They're so full of shit.
@@giovanni-cx5fb YESS!! They do! Its incredibly frustrating and its all too common! I knew I was being exploited... And they did not plan to hire me on unless I applied for another position for full-time. The pay was also, mediocre. My contract position allowed me garner some essential skills in some programming and excel, and it was low stress, I couldn't really complain. I learned a lot, but I am glad I am out!
I've worked in both. I don't like the politics in larger corporations. I don't like the lack of processes and procedures in small company, the lower pay scale, lack of benefits, and as you stated, the lack of the latest technology. I think I would prefer and mid-sized company.
I've worked various large and small companies. Large companies have cheaper health insurance, better retirement plans, more competitive salaries, and generally better PTO awards. The only advantage I've encountered from small businesses is you have the potential to grow with the company.
I liked working for smaller companies. A big part of it was that I got a lot of solid experience in different roles: Product development, marketing, sales, and customer support. Often all in the same week.
That's cool and all but its going to be hard to switch to a bigger company as they sadly value the company profile and balance sheet size. But if goal is to move from small to small companies, its fine.
I personally do not care if the company is small, medium or big. What I look for into the companies are some key points - Are they well established and are they keep improving throughout the years? Are they supporting people with disabilities, do they care and value the Equality and Diversity? - This is a massive big point here for me as I am a disabled and been discriminated by many companies from small to big like IBM. Last thing that is in my consideration is - are they flexible, do they offer flexible way of working such as working from home, mixture of home and office etc that supports work-life balance.
Small companies are amazing places to learn a lot of skills, but for climbing the corporate ladder and get that level of exposure you need the large corporations.
I worked for a small engineering software company for almost 20 years. It’s funny how you mention GE. They were our biggest client but they were also the most disorganized with such a lack of good management practices. If you’d pick someone who worked there over someone who worked at my small company which ran a tight ship in all aspects of business and was extremely successful, it’s really too bad.
I worked for a year for a very big global brand company and I've never seen such poor structure and management - everything was a complete mess. What did I do that year? Literally nothing, their organisation was so all over the place that even if I was walking around with my hand raised I never got any work assigned to me.
Both small and large companies have their benefits. Positive when working at a small company, you tend to see the impact you make within the company and you get more visibility. Negative when working at a small company, the company tends to take advantage of your skill set and the work life balance is heavily screwed towards work and not so much towards home life. Positive for working at a large company, is that the benefits tend to be a lot better, 401k is better, pension, and health benefits are better. Negative for working at a large company, your impact is usually small, too many people fighting for the “top spot” and social politics can be annoying. Basically you see some real slackers who talk big game getting promoted and usually the people who do the work don’t get the recognition. That’s just my experience with it all.
This largely depends on the industry your working for as well. In civil engineering, if you've worked for large companies for most of your career, your knowledge and skillset in civil as a whole tends to be far more narrow than if you worked for a medium sized company. In smaller firms, your responsibilities increase creating a much more robust understanding of engineering principles across all of civil.
In IT it's better to be in a medium sized company as you get a TON more scope of work and get far more experience in different technologies. In a Large company you only work with 1 or 2 technologies as everything is made to be in small chunks so the business can quickly replace a person when they leave the company. If you want to grow you career then most work for medium companies there is a greater chance to jump from engineer to head of a department to CTO very quickly, especially if you jump from one company to the next.
Perhaps but at FAANGs, they can pay a mid-career programmer more than what a department head in a medium sized company would make. Just depends on your end goal. But a medium sized company can offer an intriguing blend of career options.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff Most people I know that work for FAANGS almost always leave those big companies within a few years because they don't like the work environment, sure the pay might be better but at what cost? I'd rather have the experience at the middle sized company and get many different roles, this then puts me into a very good position to be able to start and grow a successful business myself which would be more difficult if your only experience is small scope of work in large companies. Just my 2 cents, everyone has a right to their opinion, just I don't want to be a follower all my life and I want my career to climax in having a successful business after I worked and gained experience in corporate.
@@kazykamakaze131 Yeah in tech, at least, the perspective of what really grows your career differs from engineer to engineer vs a recruiter. To a lot of engineers, not getting knowledge/responsibility depth or a working in a toxic environment at a major, well-known company is not worth the name recognition long-term. But recruiters just see the household names.
@@vulpixelful Honestly don't bother yourself with recruiters and what they think. Do what you want as it's you that has to do the work, not them. In my opinion I'd try to start my own IT as soon as you feel you can take on any IT challenge and not need help from some "expert". Doing your own IT pays by orders of magnitude more than you would get at a FAANG company these days and you'd actually get to do many different roles, which is nice and refreshing to say the least. People tend to forget that at these large companies they track EVERYTHING you do and how you do it. People can't work 100%+ capacity non stop, it's impossible and this is why these companies have such high engineer turnover rates since they want to squeeze every cent of value out of you. This is not the extra % salary worth to me, as eventually you will burn out and get sick of it.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff not from my experience, I got a major pay increase going mid than my years working fortune (one being Amazon). I’ll never do that again. Oddly enough I did work for a company that was acquired by one I left…unless you’re starving for that badge, I always recommend to steer clear if you want growth and good pay
Im in a small company(IT), the only downside for me is that I have to do everything; many times I am juggling many balls at the same time; Serving customers, tech support, router setup, website setup, setting up connections, update servers etc... jumping back and forth between tasks. We are seriously understaffed. I sure feel the burn. Bonus: I can tell the boss to shut up when I feel like it. It was more easy in a bigger company... but I was just a number :) But still, I will have to quit my job; wait for the covid to pass.
Same here. I'm on a team of two people in the IT dept. Most days are manageable but I often get pulled in different directions. I am on call 24/7 and I've had nights and weekends where I was in fixing a disaster. That gets old quick. I would like a more structured environment and a bigger IT team that a corporation can provide. However I think that will increase chances I get laid off in the future since I will be one of many cogs in the wheel.
I started out of college in a small rapidly growing company acquired by a larger company 5 years before I started. I was able to learn so much and gain so much experience in the 6 years I was there. We've relocated for my husband's job twice now and I've had no problem getting jobs. Now I work for a larger organization and I enjoy the structure but don't think I'd have as many marketable skills if I started in a larger company. Granted the small company I worked for was a mature lean manufacturing company and my boss was a mentor.
Good video . There are pros and cons for each to be honest. I am at a smaller company but have to wear a lot of hats . Bigger companies have roles/departments for every little thing. I do agree there is more opportunity at larger firms.
Also I’d like to add- the small company I worked for paid me way more in salary, retirement, and benefits than any of the 3 large companies I worked for previously. The red tape with the large companies prevented them from giving the great starting salary, raises and profit sharing than I received with my small company. The salaries at my small company were much higher and so were my benefits including my retirement to which they contributed $100,000 to and I never had to put in a dime (10% profit sharing). None of the large companies I ever worked for did that no matter how good of a worker I was!
I guess it depends. My experience has been the opposite. Fortune 100 companies in my background have paid much more, contributed much more to 401Ks, more best in industry tools, etc. Yeah tons of red tape, but small companies struggled to compete. That said, small companies had more opportunities for initiative and personal successes.
@@salemonz I've had the same experience. Pay and benefits have always been better at larger corporations than at any small business I've ever worked for. The last small business I worked for had no concrete processes written on paper, so we had no clue if we got paid holidays, what the newest commission structure was, and even if and when we would get PTO, everything was always up in the air. I can't stand ambiguity and it was extremely frustrating not being able to rely on my pay and benefits because it would constantly change (for the worse).
@@laurahill4566 Small companies can't compete, specially in IT. The FAANGs + Microsoft and Tesla will pay much better than any small organization can ever come close to paying!!
I work for a major corporation and the hierarchy structure is a great disadvantage for a low level fresh graduate position. Depending on the manager you have, some will make use of your skill to do everything for them, such as reports or deck, then they will present it to their managers (leaving you out in the meeting) to take credit for your work. It’s a miserable position to be in, especially when they can also determine your year-end performance and whether to push for your promotion. These people are fighting to move up the corporate ladder, whether they are talented or not, and boot licking is commonly seen. It’s also about the connections you have with the senior directors, rather than the talent. Quiet and hardworking workers do not have the visibility they deserve when they have such managers. HR will not help you in such situation. I think it’s still best to start off career in a small company to have a wide scope of learning, then move on to a large corporation with a more senior role.
I feel like there are major pros and cons to both. And I’ve worked at both, but by 51%...a larger company for certain things like CV recognition, and just more organisation muscle.
Well, he's right in tech they care about big names on resumes. But ultimately, I prefer working for smaller companies, and that is what matters the most. I tried working for a larger company in an internship and it sucked. Way more burocracy, your scope is often quite narrow, and it just feels like you don't have as much of an impact. In tech there's a pretty large pay cut that comes with working for a smaller company. However, there's a chance the equity turns big and you cash out as well. Anyways, what matters most is that you enjoy the work. I like wearing multiple hats, so the start up life is for me. I don't want to live my life in fear of having to work at a big company to get a job later on. What matters more anyways are your technical skills. If you worked for a big company but cant pass the interview or keep up with the job then what's the point?
Just learned this the hard way. I prefer larger company. The last role was at a small company. Just 4 people in team. Very old fashioned, stuck in 80's. Not flexiable when I could take my lunch break. No breakout area, do had lunch in my car.
Many publicly traded companies will sacrifice long term gains to look good to stock holders in the short term. Privately owned companies have no reason to do this and generally maintain a longer term vision. This is particularly true for large publicly traded companies.
@@patrickcasper7487 interesting point. I would agree overall, having been at both (competitors) for 5 yrs. Only draw back w private company, unless your Billionare ceo flys yall out to vegas for lunch (this happened lol), you can expect to be in the dark about the health of - & strategic goals / trajectory for - the organization. At a public company, yes, they are often more superficial and shortsighted in terms of profit, but looking back on it i appreciated that management had to / regularly would give updates. Or i could check stocks and read news.
Some people definitely have an irrational bias towards big company names. We needed to hire an entry-level person once and the manager insisted we hire a person who previously worked at a larger company even though that company was not even in the top 10 in their industry. That person negotiated a starting salary higher than their direct supervisor... Guess what we had to do. We had to bump up the salary of that supervisor and every other supervisor with the same level of experience by 25% so that an entry-level person does not have a higher salary than a supervisor... All in all, it cost us well over 100k a year in raises alone because of this one new hire... Years later, there was not a single instance where that person's large company experience helped us with anything... And the manager wonders why the HR cost escalated so much...
It sounds like your company was grossly underpaying the supervisors and because this new hire had experience outside of your small firm they knew their worth. Your firm bumped up the salaries not because they had to have this one entry level person it was probably because you guys pay so badly you couldn't recruit anyone else. Your story sounds like a success on the part of the workers in a big way and another example as to why working for a small firm is not as good as working for a large firm. large firms conduct market research to make sure they are paying people in line with the market which is a good thing.
@@morgancurtis237 You didn't have enough information to make that judgment. Does a chef at your local restaurant make even half the salary of a chef at a 3-star restaurant? The supervisors were paid at market value for companies our size. Of course they were not paid comparable salaries to someone with the same position at Microsoft...
I've found I've enjoyed working in a smaller nonprofit. I have much more of a say in things that otherwise I wouldn't in a larger company (I've had horrible experiences with larger companies, where I'm just a cog or expendable and my ideas are shrugged off constantly), and people actually take my voice seriously. Here, I advanced very quickly to a core leadership role in under a year, built my department from the ground up with measurable successes, and now I'm getting experience in roles I wouldn't have thought I would ever get the opportunity to learn about. There's hardly any bureaucracy or red tape, we're quicker to adapt and try new things, which I love as a creative. I was able to talk to my boss about making a 4 day work week happen for my employees among other benefits, she was like "go for it"! There's challenges to be had no matter where you work, for sure, but if you have healthy team dynamics/adherence to codes of conduct and professional boundaries it works great. I like being able to say I've molded and created something meaningful, especially for my team. I want them to feel as valued as I do and to love where they work.
I believe one of the best things that happened to me was our smaller company was bought by 3M. Having 3M on my resume allowed me to secure better positions and pay. I love the start up mentality but also love the security of larger companies. Each has it advantages and disadvantages.
I am 68 and towards the end of my career. I was just hired for a small private practice mental health agency. Previous I had worked for a larger well known mental health agency that was unionized. It was a negative experience. I have worked in small agencies and companies in the past. I prefer the culture in small agencies/companies. And since I am at this point in my career, where this is probably the last agency that I will work for anyway. I think it will suit me well and I am happy with the compensation.
Excellent - I’ve contracted as a project manager at large companies for over 20 years allowing me to take longer vacations between contracts. I learned so much and companies like bringing in PM’s with experience from multiple companies. For me the compensation elements were equal to being an employee. I had no desire to climb the corporate ladder.
The pros and cons are so personal; I’ve worked in a large or the largest company in the industry, but very difficult to get promoted or moved because of the set up at the HQ They don’t pay as well, and they don’t really have the opportunity to move abroad.. I’m in a very unique situation and I think a smaller company would offer me a better platform to shine! 16+ years in a large company, it’s been good but not as you make it seem, with all due respect x
I worked for two large, multi-national aerospace companies for a combination of 20 years. There are pluses and minuses and not all really large companies are the same kinds of experiences. Large aerospace companies for instance are typically not cutting edge technology and tend to operate very conservatively. A lot of that is due to FAA regulations and the nature of that business in general. That sometimes surprises people... "Oh you design airplane engines, that must be really technical!". That said, different divisions within those same companies can operate very differently, like the case with research and development. Those divisions are typically less hindered and dependent on the type of talent you are looking for, one company can yield two totally different types of employee experiences. Small companies mean, lots of hats, the ability to think more on your feet and perhaps more control of inputs and direction. IMO, the best technical employees have a bit of both; they have the procedural experience necessary to all the metrics collection of a large corp, and yet, the flexibility and broad expertise one might only gain in a smaller team environment. Really depends what you're looking for in an employee.
Startups should hire some old, good, retired/nearly retired engineers. They don't need the guarantee of job/wage security and can match the risk profile of startups. They bring experience to help younger engineers
I agree with both points. I have worked for large and small companies. I always have more responsibilities and learn a lot at the smaller companies. When I am at a large company, I usually have a more focused role. I also noticed I get pinged for other jobs more often when I am at a place with name recognition vs. a smaller business that no one recognizes.
Opportunities are limited in large corporations too. Organizations are flatter. Higher ups are hired from outside. At most, you may be able to move laterally. I’d like to work for a smaller company. But, so far, no luck. The smaller companies say “You don’t want to work here” or “We just have simple problems”.
Start at a big company for branding, move to a smaller company and move up into a mid-senior or senior position, then move back to a large company (or stay at small company if it is growing and you're happy, obviously). Career done 🙃
ALL THAT MATTERS IS @ 12:27 . . . . Great video Brian 👍. . . . Large Companys are THE BEST . . . . Mom & Pop. Companys are BAD NEWS on ALL LEVELS . . . Work load, Pay/Benefits, & NON-EXISTENT Advancement and Long Term Security. . . . ALL NEGATIVES of small company ! ! ! . . . . . Listen up you "UNDER 30 somethings" this guy is RIGHT go for the Large Company
from my experiences big corporations pay extremely low, high expectations and raises/ promotions go to the favorites. i’m speaking based from logistics and retail
I started from big company, but decide to go to a smaller company, even if the benefit/salary is half or less , due to having a fixed weekend off, and a lot of time with family.
What about a quality of life issue? When I've worked for garage-band companies, I feel my ideas can be heard, and it's much easier to pivot when things are going wrong. It's also easier to float new ideas and experiment. Now that I work for a company with 1000+ employees, I have such a smaller piece of the pie. None of my ideas never even make it to the table for consideration. :/ Big companies are more supportive. There is an IT dept, for instance. Which is way more efficient than googling endlessly when issues crop up, but they are also really hard to figure out how to navigate. Who do i reach out to? What is the procedure? Who am I allowed to email or speak with? I've taken so many wrong turns at a large company just by powering forward as I have grown accustomed to doing. I wish there was a self-help channel that was more focused on the concept of navigating and surviving life within a large company. It's way harder.
As someone in IT with pedigree in the military, federal sub-contracting, the big 4 accounting, largest auction in the world, and a now defunct e-commerce brand, there are very few jobs I haven't gotten at least callback from.
I am extremely thankful that my career started in a small company. I learned a ton. The tech pivoted more quickly and people contributed more. I would favor people from a small company hands down.
Pedegree has worked for me, especially earlier in my career: Rolls-Royce aircraft programs, B/E Aerospace, Tetra Tech, etc. has helped with the numerous smaller companies I’ve worked with
I worked in large prestigious company and a small one. However at small companies, I have been given more responsibility that I would never get in a large corporation -that’s because you have to build experience up for years - at a small company I was able to do a lot of things that at a large company I would not be able to do. But my experience at prestigious corporations have helped me in bringing my org to the modern world.
I think it purely depends on the role as well you can be a basic customer support agent at one of the most reputed company or be a part of an year old start up but a role of project management or something big and i would definitely go for second one
I have worked for a fortune 10 company and I have to say while yes they use the latest technology, most likely they will have it so restricted that you will not really use it. As a data guy, i have spent forever on why I should be allowed to use data for my job because some IT director wants to control their turf. I worked on a major planning tool implementation and i showed up to 50 people in a kick off meeting. Big companies can expose you to a lot of interesting tools and business processes. But eventually I found I wanted span of control and smaller companies can provide that much easier.
In in the middle of doing this right now. I'm jumping from a small to medium sized firm to an ENR top 100 or so. So hoping their use of best practices saves me from the toxic culture I came from in the small office cultures I just came from.
I was lucky enough to work in a small team that operates in a very large company. I have more responsibility and learn more but with a company who isn’t likely to go away any time soon.
Depends on your personality. Big companies come with toadie culture. If you're the type that thrives on social politics, narrow specialization, conforming to culture, go for the big company. If you are a generalist, many hat wearer, like building new things, innovating, defining the culture, growing, then look for those small companies. The very best IMHO is to find a company early in the transformation from small to big. That is, a decent mom'n'pop shop recently bought by a small to medium holdings firm, with the intent of bundling businesses and trading up venture partners every 3-5 years.
if are a workaholic and eager beaver, go with small companies. if you want to work a set hours and want good amenities, go with larger companies. and at larger companies more of the staff treat job as a job not a purpose of life like in small companies. employers don't get employees only care about their work and getting paid. company profit is low on employees priorities
oh yeah big company will make you work with the newest and latest technology. BUT From my personal experience, the big company will give those "jobs" to some other new hired or worst, to some outsourced employee. And from my experience, I've an better experience working with smaller company then the big one. Working for a large company, I'm tired being a number/small cog in a giant machine. I long for the old small company, where I can do my own thing
agree with everything you said. I started in small specialised company, moved through ranks and later moved to industry leading names (3 names). In my experience people from busines really appreciate big names (sometimes without credit), but most work and most critical knowledge and practices I got from first small one. Admittedly I got broader experience in big company (your comment about latest technology). In terms of reimbursement and benefits bigger is better. I do miss some things of working is small company: we were specialists, you write your own SOPs, you are integrated. But maybe i'm just nostalgic.
I saw a lot when new tech comes to small company easily while big ones had so many beauticy going around that the new solution stays years in line to be budgeted (talking from IT / software engineering perspective)
I quite disagree with the organization technologies and business practices of big cooperation. Too big / too old usually result to too slow for any change, especially in Japanese companies. They are only excellent at PR. However, I cannot denine that big companies make your resume "look better".
If you want to learn on how to run your own business in the future, small companies could provide better experiences. But if you want to work until retirement then large corporations gives you a better career development.
I’ve done quite a bit of both in my career. Both brand names at the start for best in class onboarding and processes and startups for accelerated technical experience and entrepreneurial experience was key. So it’s ideal in my experience if one can get both experiences. Great channel by the way. I started my corporate career in personnel and benefits, even today, much of what you’ve been sharing is consistent with my experience over the decades.
I transitioned from a three thousand plus employer to a fifteen people employer. In the first job, I was overlooked and taken for granted to show up on random but crucial shifts, but in my current job (contract sadly ends by NYE) I really got recognized for my efforts, even on an international level. Both of these jobs involved getting news out to people. (Tbh I have no idea what to do now for future work. I have an overwhelming feeling of "HELP". I know what I'm good at but idk if I can find the right thing for me)
I work in a very niche industry, and the smaller shops are more likely to have the hottest new software. Big places are afraid of crashing the pipeline. Loving this channel though! Really affirming!
I’ve worked at both large corporations (casino industry) and some small companies. As an employee at a small company it definitely makes more of an impact on the business.
I have only worked for small (at least small-ish) companies over the course of my career, and I'm wondering if I should jump on with the big boys for a little while. I'm nervous to do so, but it would be an awesome experience that I could learn from no matter if it's great or terrible!
I enjoy working for a moderately small company which is growing through organic growth or M&A. It allows for more responsive customer service but benefits from my desire to create processes and procedures that protect the growing company (bigger target) in a way that least interferes with that customer focus and company responsiveness.
I once got offer from a big name company in my country with billions of revenue each year. However, they're offer much lower salary than a small company that offered me job at the same time. I chose the smaller one because I need the extra money. Than from that smaller company I climbed my career ladder to find other slightly bigger company than that. Now I just got an offer with salary monthly increased by 45%.
Love the information provided by this channel. Very helpful. As a co-owner of a small shop. How do I handle a disrespectful employee that continuously cusses and talks back to me but no other member of the management team. How can I handle this in a professional matter. Anytime it is brought into the light, he starts threatening to fight me, Vandalize my vehicle. How can I get through to an employee that just does not respect me or my position but respects other management and refuses to do whatever I say. Would like to see a video on how to handle an issue like this
My suggestion - try for "start ups" within MNCs. Often they are reasonably sized, ~100. You get MNC benefits but something like a start up culture. Promotions are faster because often you get asked to do things way outside of your job scope. And because you are MNC-backed, your clients will tend to be big corporations too so your portfolio is not really super different. In fact you get better diversity in who you interact with - from the 1men shop based in some city of Qatar to the top global producers.
I work at a major US company but in a branch based outside of the country and I see it kind of difficult to move within the company because the positions where I am located aren't many and most of the people stay in their positions for decades as they want to make a lifelong career there. That's my side of the story.
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I've found that smaller organizations can implement newer tech easier than bigger corps, mostly because large organizations have massive code bases that are almost impossible to replace.
Do you want to work at a company that is only interested in "brand recognition"? Perhaps I'm only thinking of tech industry (business or marketing will certainly benefit from better image), but if the recruiter is only interested in companies that my mom can recognize, it doesn't seem like they are very knowledgeable in the industry itself. I work at a small company and know a few people at large companies. There is more stability and benefits for them, but they don't see the variety of projects/customer problems that I have the opportunity to see. Also, they seem to be more focused on the wealth/retirement trajectory than the tech itself. I am happy doing work and working with people very fascinated with the projects. I think if I started off at a large corporation, the money and benefits might be too good to leave and do what I like to do.
I got placed in a startup right after MBA. The experience was not that good and I'm planning to move. Since there is a bias for major recognized names, will I be stuck in a cycle of small companies?
Well, I think in this video you are trying to make a valid point and make it apply everywhere. Unfortunately with over 3 decades of work experience in the IT field, I can tell your views on Big company small company does not apply. In fact, you will find more satisfaction working for a small company than with a big company. As for big companies having better technology again, I have found that not to be the case. Big companies do not have the money you think to invest in the latest and greatest technology. I many cases other than for vital systems to run the business they are running old technology. They use new contracts to hopefully lead them into new technology. As for salary let me state in my 3+ decades you couldn't be more incorrect. The big companies I worked for underpaid me and were cheap on their yearly raises. Additionally, their benefits packages were expensive for low quality. When I worked for small companies I got decent pay, decent benefits packages, and decent pay raises. Like I said in some industries I am sure what you have said is true but I can tell you after my 3+ decades in my industry it is very much different. So I guess what I am saying is that your advice in this specific video depends upon the industry and does not apply to all industries.
I have worked for three different major corporations and they are almost always behind on technological updates because they never budget for employee use tools, only customer end tools get updates.
I feel that small companies are more toxic than the big corporations, and although there are more employees, you get trained better at big corporations. I feel start ups want the most for the least. The small businesses want you to work much faster than in big corporations. This is what I have gotten from working in start ups and corporations. What do you think?
What if you have been working at the same FANG/ high pedigree company for 15+ years. How does a recruiter interpret that. What are the Pros and Cons for a candidate with that background? Thanks
This is very good to know. I’ve been at fortune 100 to 500 companies for the past 20 years. I thought it was less than my chances of being laid off but nope I’ve been laid off 4 times with 3 of them being at top Fortune 100-500 companies 🥴 my next time around I’m looking for a smaller company because outside of being laid off, I find that the more established companies are very behind when it comes to technology, new products, and not very innovative. I want to work for a company with a fresh perspective and the first one to the party.
Could you do a video on excelling in a career in an extremely poor economy like what it was like in 2009 for individuals who don't have the desire skills/experience?
As someone who left big companies to go mid. Unless you’re just starting out or an executive, gtfo while you can. Better pay, benefits and newer toolstacks to tinker with. Unfortunately you can experience getting purchased and ending up back in the system
I'm in a similar situation getting opportunity to learn a new skill and work compared to my current multi national top 10 bank in the world the role I'm working is shit and start up company offering me kinda similar money and benefits should I go for it and im just 22
I work for a large company now, but much of my experience was in smaller companies. One advantage of a small company is that you can be involved in the whole product/business life cycle. If you are a Technical Geek, for example, you have your day-to-day duties doing Technical Geek stuff, but you can and should be involved in Customer interfacing, etc. (Working with your Customer is a big eye-opener!) From that experience, you can get involved in proposal responses, new business development, etc. I got to do these things as a Technical Geek at my prior employer; at my current employer, entire departments are dedicated to these tasks and the opportunity to contribute to the whole product life cycle is limited to "The Brass", Program Managers, Directors, VPs, etc. for the most part.
Personally, I think it depends on the company and the quality of its leadership and services. Take medical clinics and organizations, for example. Large ones often offer much more growth potential and usually have better pay and benefits, but there's much more "numbers-crunching," more arbitrary measures, and it's much less personalized. Efficiency and toxicity often will vary wildly by department or location, fortunately mine is a good department and I hit it off pretty well with my managers. Smaller ones have less upward growth potential and can be very ''shoot from the hip" in terms of processes, but often feel more personalized with workers and bosses really getting to know one another, and smaller clinics can more easily make changes. However, when it comes to toxicity, it can be like throwing darts. Either you get a very family-like, positive atmosphere with close camaraderie, or you get a toxic environment with bullies who like to be the "big fish in a small pond."
a recent interview started great, recruiter said I had all the right skill sets until asked how big my current company is.... the response was "Ohhhhhh.... that's SMALL......" so they didn't move me forward :(
A good small company is going to teach you work ethic, and if you go into a big company after this, you are going to stand out. The advantage of a large company is career mobility internal to orgs within the company and easier ability to navigate away from toxic culture pockets. That being said, there are a LOT of terrible managers parked in larger companies who will stall your career out. People who resist change are terrible and are how you get stuck behind the open market. Promotions are also popularity contests in large companies, especially at the senior level. No company is safe from corporate politics but learning how to effectively navigate them is going to be the biggest help to your career. You’re best positioned to grow your career at a large company but it certainly isn’t nirvana.
I started in a very small company and learned a lot and would not give that experience up for anything. However, since then I have worked for other small companies and found the environments to be toxic and conducive to people who enjoy being a "big" fish in a small pond where they can bully and mistreat others. I now work for a large, global company and it fits me perfectly. The organization is too big for any one personality to dominate and everyone treats each other respectfully.
100%
Agreed about the big fish in small pond. Been there, suffered that.
This is very true
@@baldchook same with no HR to go to Smh
I could not agree more with the op and commenters here. Larger companies have less "fish pond issues" but you can find yourself in a silo there too... where not necessarily latest tech is used and so on (loads of tech debt...).
In my experience this happens when a company grows suddenly then the management wants to run it as a startup but that doesn't work anymore.
Going for a recognised brand should be better in regards of culture and using latest tech, but it's not always the case (and it's almost impossible to know before joining even during the interview process since they are interested in hiring you and you want to get hired too)
The culture interview stage is usually your typical HR interview and it is still hard to tell how things really work at the company you are applying for.
Best thing is when you know someone inside or that has recently worked there then you can get a much better picture.
I prefer a well run large corporation. The structure protects the hard working employees where as in a small business hard working employees are easily taken advantage of.
true! i'm (currently) working in a small company in the building industry because i wanted to gain overall experience in all aspects of the job. that works out but on the other side i've lost count on how many times my bosses pretended a "but we re friends" - attitude to coax me into unpaid hours because of someone else's poor work/decision 🙄 for the team blah blah blah
@@mara2382 I agree with both of you and with the video maker (Brent?/Brian?). In my experience, smaller companies provide more experience and a bigger understanding of how everything works because you're usually doing various jobs which would be 3-4 different positions at a large company. And when a new type of task comes along, your boss will easily tell you to do it.
On the other hand, in bigger companies, your boss is going to have to really think through if the new task should be burdened on your team of eight people, or it should be done by another team/department or if they need to hire new people entirely. Also, if you try to take on 3-4 positions (do the job of someone else), you could be blamed or questioned. So although the workload is usually more humane, you usually learn less.
Yes. And big corporations will spend to get the best, small ones just expect people to fall within their pathetic salary structure. And that explains why small corporations has more buffoons.
@@mara2382 yeah im the person who if given time will work to get job done on time. but its not on me that someone took longer to check on me. im still only working the set 40h.
As a software developer, I've found that point #2 is the opposite.
Smaller companies are usually quicker to adopt newer technologies while larger companies are very slow to adopt new tech.
Again, this is from a software development point of view so I'm referring to the tools/frameworkds that we use to build applications and websites.
As someone who worked for a small company... he is right about #2 my job never updated anything everything is from the 90s/2000s which is very outdated and they don’t plan on getting with the new times
If all of the files are stored in a huge, complicated old-ass program that crashes a lot, sometimea people are slow to migrate it. Plus: if a lot of employees have been using said program for forever, they may not want to learn something new, even though it would actually make their work easier
yeh was gonna say. Most of the big companies I have seen have outdated databases, are only now getting into cloud, still use skype, use old tech stacks etc. Newer companies are generally much more nimble with less regulations and hoops to jump through, so if you want to use the latest tech, you can go ahead.
Exactly my experience!
This is definitely a grey area. My small company was more elastic when it first kicked off - but the tech they adopted with their startup freedom wound up just being really niche in the long run (think - lisp, etc). I love working with it though. Honestly, it'd be neat to see more companies use functional programming.
Big companies make your resume look better
I agree
A lot
I prefer smaller companies, but not where the whole family works.
There's a pros and cons to each type. And yes, beware the company with entire families working there!
@@ALifeAfterLayoff In some circumstances there's a valid reason for this situation which works well. The difference is can they separate work issues and personal issues? Most can't.
There are exceptions: I have been working in a business that is owned by my father and his business partner with me, my father, my mother since the inception of the business (over 21 years). The toxicity that has arisen has almost always been from regular hires and the few times any has come from my family members they were disciplined, demoted, or fired as necessary.
Most of the toxicity came from people hired on in a managerial capacity who after a couple of years getting the "holier than though" attitude and started making decisions and doing things they were not authorized in their role to do. Yes, that does include my EX wife who was also fired after one too many customer complaints about her condescending attitude. I was a part of (and in favor of) the firing decision because the infractions were negatively impacting the business and 100% fireable offenses.
I find it amusing how people blame the hired help for being the main ones that bring problems to a family run company. As someone that's worked mainly for small family run businesses all my life I can confirm that this type of business are very hard to work for!. There is little to no recourse for issues that arise between hired help and the family members (usually they are all in leadership positions) as the family is not going anywhere but employees are disposable they fire & hire at the drop of a hat mainly over interpersonal issues. The first company I worked at for nearly 8 years was great, the owner and his family ran it very well, no issues at all. They all had clear boundaries and kept everything professional between everyone at work. Many family run companies do not and tempers, emotions flare constantly as I have found out recently at my last few and this current job.
Oh my gosh, I have been in ALL the wrong workplaces 🤦♂️
I worked for a business where the entire family worked! You are never fast enough to feed them all!
Small company has lots of meanings. It could be a mom and pop business, but it could also be a start-up founded by seasoned professionals with lots of expertise and connections in the industry.
Big company: Many engineers on one project. Small company: One engineer on many projects.
Not always true, this depends on scope of work. I am an engineer at a large company and i have ownership over many projects simultaneously.
So a medium-sized company is one engineer per project?
I like working for larger companies. The times I've worked in smaller companies there's much less structure and less organized. Often doing things way outside your role and it's hard to stay on track since you're constantly getting pulled to do something else
I’ve worked for small companies for the past 15 years and they’ve all taken advantage of their employees and had poor culture. I’m using your channel to brush up on my interview skills so that I can move to a larger company!
Agreed
Same here, I've had only one really good small company job and stayed 8 years, all the other small mom&pop shops have too much drama for my liking..
I agree with you!! Just got out of a small company and I very much dislike it!! They don’t believe in giving you breaks as well 🙄 they think a lunch break is all you need out of a almost 10 hour shift 🙄 and you only get lunch if you work a full day anything less than 8 they don’t give you a lunch break
Same here
I agree!
Small companies are usually better.
In a large company you are just a number. Everything is done with generic procedures. You are overwhelmingly judged by idiotic metrics rather than actual talent and contributions. Oftentimes, I see coworkers spending more time manipulating silly metrics rather than doing quality work. The boss is usually fine with it because your numbers make his numbers look good.
Smaller companies often let employees use their talents. Oftentimes you are actually recognized by accomplishments.
I currently work for a mega corporation that only seems to care about cookie cutter metrics. Most of us are very inefficient because we have to focus on metrics looking good. Customers really suffer and management can't figure out why customers are dropping us 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
It seems to be more a problem with position you work in, not the size of the company... but what can I know? :)
Much more bureaucracy at large companies. It sucks.
Sounds badly run.
@@tongpoo8985 It's a chaotic mess. The manager wants you to feel like you are constantly on the verge of getting fired and he works you to the bone.
Favoritism runs rampant. Raises are mostly non-existent... Funny thing is that I have enough savings for probably 4-5 years, but won't walk away for some reason 🤣🤣🤣
Generally speaking I think it's better to work for large companies but this sounds like one of those exceptions. If the position you're in lends itself to these kinds of abuses then you're better off in a small company.
Interestingly my personal experience is that you are more likely to have a wider area of expertise in a small company. Big companies love to create silos and few people get to work across them, most people are limited to their silo responsibilities. Also I saw more "cutting edge" stuff coming from startups and being acquired by bigger guys than originally developed by big companies. Well, at least in the area of technology. Big shots, of course, look better on the resume.
There’s definitely advantages to both! Perhaps best to get each of them on your resume during a career.
Start small - learn a lot of stuff and go big!
Big Companies do know that Silos are toxic for the employees for individual growth as well as for the company as a whole. Sometimes middle and upper management can get away with it for their own internal reasons but it's also a good sign that layoffs/reorganizations are on the way.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff And how do you land a job at a larger company as a software developer (and get paid what you're worth) when your 20+ years of experience is at two small companies as the sole developer who conceived of, designed, architected and implemented the entire suite of software? I have the demonstrable skills.
I have the projects that have impressed other business owners and managers in this niche field who have expressed wanting to license the software because the one(s) they use are "crap" (their words) compared to mine because they are not not actually designed for the niche. I have a POS that a sales representative of a highly popular expensive POS system has said "Your POS has a lot more features, uses, and is almost too easy to use! Add these reporting capabilities and I can sell this better than the one I am currently selling."
I keep the rights to the source code I produce for this company under the condition they have a perpetual no-cost license to use any and all features of the platform so I can license it. I have had several people who have expressed interested in being a business partner but I can't do it until I get enough income or "seed" (< 100K) to pay my bills while I work on getting it to a solid licensable state without having to dedicate 40 hours a week to another company to do so.
I have the experience to very quickly learn any programming language or technology needed. But that doesn't matter. I don't have any "social network" (I hate social media!). I don't have the "right technologies" because I don't use them on a daily basis but I am still more knowledgeable (to my surprise) on those technologies than a lot of my peers who *do* use them daily. I don't have "team experience" since I have been the sole developer. But I don't work on an island in these businesses. I still work as a team with all areas of the business to become intimately aware of the duties of each area to know what problem areas are and how to solve them in software. I work with owners, managers, customers, users, etc. while developing and working on the software to get as much feedback as possible during the development phase.
None of that shows up on resume.
Smaller teams have more flexibility to adopt new things and change, larger teams need orders to stream down from the top
Tip on getting your foot in a big company: internship or contract work. I worked as a contractor for two major automotive companies.. The pay was mediocre and its frustrating that my skills are above and beyond my co-workers while they get full benefits+higher pay. After 3 years, I was able to land a job at a major tech company making 3x as much. Sometimes when you're fresh out of college, you gotta work those shitty contract positions at a major corporation.
The way some huge companies exploit contractors is disgusting. I got to experience it first hand from a corporation widely praised in the local media (Italy) for supposedly putting people first. They're so full of shit.
@@giovanni-cx5fb YESS!! They do! Its incredibly frustrating and its all too common! I knew I was being exploited... And they did not plan to hire me on unless I applied for another position for full-time. The pay was also, mediocre. My contract position allowed me garner some essential skills in some programming and excel, and it was low stress, I couldn't really complain. I learned a lot, but I am glad I am out!
I did the same thing out of college, however, in the long run it was worth it!
I've worked in both. I don't like the politics in larger corporations. I don't like the lack of processes and procedures in small company, the lower pay scale, lack of benefits, and as you stated, the lack of the latest technology. I think I would prefer and mid-sized company.
I've worked various large and small companies. Large companies have cheaper health insurance, better retirement plans, more competitive salaries, and generally better PTO awards.
The only advantage I've encountered from small businesses is you have the potential to grow with the company.
I liked working for smaller companies. A big part of it was that I got a lot of solid experience in different roles: Product development, marketing, sales, and customer support. Often all in the same week.
That's cool and all but its going to be hard to switch to a bigger company as they sadly value the company profile and balance sheet size. But if goal is to move from small to small companies, its fine.
I personally do not care if the company is small, medium or big. What I look for into the companies are some key points - Are they well established and are they keep improving throughout the years? Are they supporting people with disabilities, do they care and value the Equality and Diversity? - This is a massive big point here for me as I am a disabled and been discriminated by many companies from small to big like IBM. Last thing that is in my consideration is - are they flexible, do they offer flexible way of working such as working from home, mixture of home and office etc that supports work-life balance.
Small companies are amazing places to learn a lot of skills, but for climbing the corporate ladder and get that level of exposure you need the large corporations.
In large corporate the myth of go up in the ladder lol 😆 been there only ass lickers go up or yes man..
I worked for a small engineering software company for almost 20 years. It’s funny how you mention GE. They were our biggest client but they were also the most disorganized with such a lack of good management practices. If you’d pick someone who worked there over someone who worked at my small company which ran a tight ship in all aspects of business and was extremely successful, it’s really too bad.
I worked for a year for a very big global brand company and I've never seen such poor structure and management - everything was a complete mess. What did I do that year? Literally nothing, their organisation was so all over the place that even if I was walking around with my hand raised I never got any work assigned to me.
It's also hard to say if working for a bankrupt company is the best thing to put on a resume, too.
Both small and large companies have their benefits.
Positive when working at a small company, you tend to see the impact you make within the company and you get more visibility.
Negative when working at a small company, the company tends to take advantage of your skill set and the work life balance is heavily screwed towards work and not so much towards home life.
Positive for working at a large company, is that the benefits tend to be a lot better, 401k is better, pension, and health benefits are better.
Negative for working at a large company, your impact is usually small, too many people fighting for the “top spot” and social politics can be annoying. Basically you see some real slackers who talk big game getting promoted and usually the people who do the work don’t get the recognition.
That’s just my experience with it all.
This largely depends on the industry your working for as well. In civil engineering, if you've worked for large companies for most of your career, your knowledge and skillset in civil as a whole tends to be far more narrow than if you worked for a medium sized company. In smaller firms, your responsibilities increase creating a much more robust understanding of engineering principles across all of civil.
Except in the realm of being the prime's project manager. That person is the jack of all trades.
In IT it's better to be in a medium sized company as you get a TON more scope of work and get far more experience in different technologies. In a Large company you only work with 1 or 2 technologies as everything is made to be in small chunks so the business can quickly replace a person when they leave the company. If you want to grow you career then most work for medium companies there is a greater chance to jump from engineer to head of a department to CTO very quickly, especially if you jump from one company to the next.
Perhaps but at FAANGs, they can pay a mid-career programmer more than what a department head in a medium sized company would make. Just depends on your end goal. But a medium sized company can offer an intriguing blend of career options.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff Most people I know that work for FAANGS almost always leave those big companies within a few years because they don't like the work environment, sure the pay might be better but at what cost? I'd rather have the experience at the middle sized company and get many different roles, this then puts me into a very good position to be able to start and grow a successful business myself which would be more difficult if your only experience is small scope of work in large companies. Just my 2 cents, everyone has a right to their opinion, just I don't want to be a follower all my life and I want my career to climax in having a successful business after I worked and gained experience in corporate.
@@kazykamakaze131 Yeah in tech, at least, the perspective of what really grows your career differs from engineer to engineer vs a recruiter. To a lot of engineers, not getting knowledge/responsibility depth or a working in a toxic environment at a major, well-known company is not worth the name recognition long-term. But recruiters just see the household names.
@@vulpixelful Honestly don't bother yourself with recruiters and what they think. Do what you want as it's you that has to do the work, not them. In my opinion I'd try to start my own IT as soon as you feel you can take on any IT challenge and not need help from some "expert". Doing your own IT pays by orders of magnitude more than you would get at a FAANG company these days and you'd actually get to do many different roles, which is nice and refreshing to say the least. People tend to forget that at these large companies they track EVERYTHING you do and how you do it. People can't work 100%+ capacity non stop, it's impossible and this is why these companies have such high engineer turnover rates since they want to squeeze every cent of value out of you. This is not the extra % salary worth to me, as eventually you will burn out and get sick of it.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff not from my experience, I got a major pay increase going mid than my years working fortune (one being Amazon). I’ll never do that again. Oddly enough I did work for a company that was acquired by one I left…unless you’re starving for that badge, I always recommend to steer clear if you want growth and good pay
Im in a small company(IT), the only downside for me is that I have to do everything; many times I am juggling many balls at the same time; Serving customers, tech support, router setup, website setup, setting up connections, update servers etc... jumping back and forth between tasks. We are seriously understaffed. I sure feel the burn. Bonus: I can tell the boss to shut up when I feel like it.
It was more easy in a bigger company... but I was just a number :) But still, I will have to quit my job; wait for the covid to pass.
Are you network administrator?
Same here. I'm on a team of two people in the IT dept. Most days are manageable but I often get pulled in different directions. I am on call 24/7 and I've had nights and weekends where I was in fixing a disaster. That gets old quick. I would like a more structured environment and a bigger IT team that a corporation can provide. However I think that will increase chances I get laid off in the future since I will be one of many cogs in the wheel.
I started out of college in a small rapidly growing company acquired by a larger company 5 years before I started. I was able to learn so much and gain so much experience in the 6 years I was there. We've relocated for my husband's job twice now and I've had no problem getting jobs. Now I work for a larger organization and I enjoy the structure but don't think I'd have as many marketable skills if I started in a larger company. Granted the small company I worked for was a mature lean manufacturing company and my boss was a mentor.
Good video . There are pros and cons for each to be honest. I am at a smaller company but have to wear a lot of hats . Bigger companies have roles/departments for every little thing. I do agree there is more opportunity at larger firms.
Also I’d like to add- the small company I worked for paid me way more in salary, retirement, and benefits than any of the 3 large companies I worked for previously. The red tape with the large companies prevented them from giving the great starting salary, raises and profit sharing than I received with my small company. The salaries at my small company were much higher and so were my benefits including my retirement to which they contributed $100,000 to and I never had to put in a dime (10% profit sharing). None of the large companies I ever worked for did that no matter how good of a worker I was!
I guess it depends. My experience has been the opposite. Fortune 100 companies in my background have paid much more, contributed much more to 401Ks, more best in industry tools, etc. Yeah tons of red tape, but small companies struggled to compete. That said, small companies had more opportunities for initiative and personal successes.
@@salemonz I've had the same experience. Pay and benefits have always been better at larger corporations than at any small business I've ever worked for. The last small business I worked for had no concrete processes written on paper, so we had no clue if we got paid holidays, what the newest commission structure was, and even if and when we would get PTO, everything was always up in the air. I can't stand ambiguity and it was extremely frustrating not being able to rely on my pay and benefits because it would constantly change (for the worse).
@@laurahill4566 Small companies can't compete, specially in IT. The FAANGs + Microsoft and Tesla will pay much better than any small organization can ever come close to paying!!
I work for a major corporation and the hierarchy structure is a great disadvantage for a low level fresh graduate position. Depending on the manager you have, some will make use of your skill to do everything for them, such as reports or deck, then they will present it to their managers (leaving you out in the meeting) to take credit for your work. It’s a miserable position to be in, especially when they can also determine your year-end performance and whether to push for your promotion. These people are fighting to move up the corporate ladder, whether they are talented or not, and boot licking is commonly seen. It’s also about the connections you have with the senior directors, rather than the talent. Quiet and hardworking workers do not have the visibility they deserve when they have such managers. HR will not help you in such situation. I think it’s still best to start off career in a small company to have a wide scope of learning, then move on to a large corporation with a more senior role.
I feel like there are major pros and cons to both. And I’ve worked at both, but by 51%...a larger company for certain things like CV recognition, and just more organisation muscle.
Well, he's right in tech they care about big names on resumes. But ultimately, I prefer working for smaller companies, and that is what matters the most. I tried working for a larger company in an internship and it sucked. Way more burocracy, your scope is often quite narrow, and it just feels like you don't have as much of an impact. In tech there's a pretty large pay cut that comes with working for a smaller company. However, there's a chance the equity turns big and you cash out as well. Anyways, what matters most is that you enjoy the work. I like wearing multiple hats, so the start up life is for me. I don't want to live my life in fear of having to work at a big company to get a job later on. What matters more anyways are your technical skills. If you worked for a big company but cant pass the interview or keep up with the job then what's the point?
Just learned this the hard way. I prefer larger company. The last role was at a small company. Just 4 people in team. Very old fashioned, stuck in 80's. Not flexiable when I could take my lunch break. No breakout area, do had lunch in my car.
Omg sameeeee!!! Plus rude coworkers and boss
Their “break” room is sooo damn tiny
From my experience, whether a company is publically or privately owned makes a big difference- as much so or more than size.
In what way?
Many publicly traded companies will sacrifice long term gains to look good to stock holders in the short term. Privately owned companies have no reason to do this and generally maintain a longer term vision. This is particularly true for large publicly traded companies.
@@patrickcasper7487 interesting point. I would agree overall, having been at both (competitors) for 5 yrs.
Only draw back w private company, unless your Billionare ceo flys yall out to vegas for lunch (this happened lol), you can expect to be in the dark about the health of - & strategic goals / trajectory for - the organization. At a public company, yes, they are often more superficial and shortsighted in terms of profit, but looking back on it i appreciated that management had to / regularly would give updates. Or i could check stocks and read news.
Some people definitely have an irrational bias towards big company names. We needed to hire an entry-level person once and the manager insisted we hire a person who previously worked at a larger company even though that company was not even in the top 10 in their industry. That person negotiated a starting salary higher than their direct supervisor... Guess what we had to do. We had to bump up the salary of that supervisor and every other supervisor with the same level of experience by 25% so that an entry-level person does not have a higher salary than a supervisor... All in all, it cost us well over 100k a year in raises alone because of this one new hire... Years later, there was not a single instance where that person's large company experience helped us with anything... And the manager wonders why the HR cost escalated so much...
It sounds like your company was grossly underpaying the supervisors and because this new hire had experience outside of your small firm they knew their worth. Your firm bumped up the salaries not because they had to have this one entry level person it was probably because you guys pay so badly you couldn't recruit anyone else. Your story sounds like a success on the part of the workers in a big way and another example as to why working for a small firm is not as good as working for a large firm. large firms conduct market research to make sure they are paying people in line with the market which is a good thing.
@@morgancurtis237 You didn't have enough information to make that judgment. Does a chef at your local restaurant make even half the salary of a chef at a 3-star restaurant? The supervisors were paid at market value for companies our size. Of course they were not paid comparable salaries to someone with the same position at Microsoft...
In tech, direct reports make more than their managers all the time, so I find it interesting that they had to bump salaries because of that
I have worked for small companies that were nightmares and now I'm looking to work for a big company.
Same
I've found I've enjoyed working in a smaller nonprofit. I have much more of a say in things that otherwise I wouldn't in a larger company (I've had horrible experiences with larger companies, where I'm just a cog or expendable and my ideas are shrugged off constantly), and people actually take my voice seriously. Here, I advanced very quickly to a core leadership role in under a year, built my department from the ground up with measurable successes, and now I'm getting experience in roles I wouldn't have thought I would ever get the opportunity to learn about. There's hardly any bureaucracy or red tape, we're quicker to adapt and try new things, which I love as a creative. I was able to talk to my boss about making a 4 day work week happen for my employees among other benefits, she was like "go for it"! There's challenges to be had no matter where you work, for sure, but if you have healthy team dynamics/adherence to codes of conduct and professional boundaries it works great. I like being able to say I've molded and created something meaningful, especially for my team. I want them to feel as valued as I do and to love where they work.
I believe one of the best things that happened to me was our smaller company was bought by 3M. Having 3M on my resume allowed me to secure better
positions and pay. I love the start up mentality but also love the security of larger companies. Each has it advantages and disadvantages.
I am 68 and towards the end of my career. I was just hired for a small private practice mental health agency. Previous I had worked for a larger well known mental health agency that was unionized. It was a negative experience. I have worked in small agencies and companies in the past. I prefer the culture in small agencies/companies. And since I am at this point in my career, where this is probably the last agency that I will work for anyway. I think it will suit me well and I am happy with the compensation.
Excellent - I’ve contracted as a project manager at large companies for over 20 years allowing me to take longer vacations between contracts. I learned so much and companies like bringing in PM’s with experience from multiple companies. For me the compensation elements were equal to being an employee. I had no desire to climb the corporate ladder.
The pros and cons are so personal; I’ve worked in a large or the largest company in the industry, but very difficult to get promoted or moved because of the set up at the HQ
They don’t pay as well, and they don’t really have the opportunity to move abroad.. I’m in a very unique situation and I think a smaller company would offer me a better platform to shine!
16+ years in a large company, it’s been good but not as you make it seem, with all due respect x
Direct interface with the Owner puts more pressure in smaller companies. Cash flow was also always a challenge.
Your closing remarks were amazing. Thank you sir.
I worked for two large, multi-national aerospace companies for a combination of 20 years. There are pluses and minuses and not all really large companies are the same kinds of experiences. Large aerospace companies for instance are typically not cutting edge technology and tend to operate very conservatively. A lot of that is due to FAA regulations and the nature of that business in general. That sometimes surprises people... "Oh you design airplane engines, that must be really technical!". That said, different divisions within those same companies can operate very differently, like the case with research and development. Those divisions are typically less hindered and dependent on the type of talent you are looking for, one company can yield two totally different types of employee experiences.
Small companies mean, lots of hats, the ability to think more on your feet and perhaps more control of inputs and direction. IMO, the best technical employees have a bit of both; they have the procedural experience necessary to all the metrics collection of a large corp, and yet, the flexibility and broad expertise one might only gain in a smaller team environment.
Really depends what you're looking for in an employee.
Startups should hire some old, good, retired/nearly retired engineers. They don't need the guarantee of job/wage security and can match the risk profile of startups. They bring experience to help younger engineers
I agree with both points. I have worked for large and small companies. I always have more
responsibilities and learn a lot at the smaller companies. When I am at a large company, I usually have a more focused role. I also noticed I get pinged for other jobs more often when I am at a place with name recognition vs. a smaller business that no one recognizes.
Opportunities are limited in large corporations too. Organizations are flatter. Higher ups are hired from outside. At most, you may be able to move laterally. I’d like to work for a smaller company. But, so far, no luck. The smaller companies say “You don’t want to work here” or “We just have simple problems”.
Start at a big company for branding, move to a smaller company and move up into a mid-senior or senior position, then move back to a large company (or stay at small company if it is growing and you're happy, obviously). Career done 🙃
Small companies get your foot in the door and give you the experience to avoid "entry level positions" that lead nowhere.
ALL THAT MATTERS IS @ 12:27 . . . . Great video Brian 👍. . . . Large Companys are THE BEST . . . . Mom & Pop. Companys are BAD NEWS on ALL LEVELS . . . Work load, Pay/Benefits, & NON-EXISTENT Advancement and Long Term Security. . . . ALL NEGATIVES of small company ! ! ! . . . . . Listen up you "UNDER 30 somethings" this guy is RIGHT go for the Large Company
from my experiences big corporations pay extremely low, high expectations and raises/ promotions go to the favorites. i’m speaking based from logistics and retail
I started from big company, but decide to go to a smaller company, even if the benefit/salary is half or less , due to having a fixed weekend off, and a lot of time with family.
What about a quality of life issue? When I've worked for garage-band companies, I feel my ideas can be heard, and it's much easier to pivot when things are going wrong. It's also easier to float new ideas and experiment. Now that I work for a company with 1000+ employees, I have such a smaller piece of the pie. None of my ideas never even make it to the table for consideration. :/
Big companies are more supportive. There is an IT dept, for instance. Which is way more efficient than googling endlessly when issues crop up, but they are also really hard to figure out how to navigate. Who do i reach out to? What is the procedure? Who am I allowed to email or speak with? I've taken so many wrong turns at a large company just by powering forward as I have grown accustomed to doing. I wish there was a self-help channel that was more focused on the concept of navigating and surviving life within a large company. It's way harder.
As someone in IT with pedigree in the military, federal sub-contracting, the big 4 accounting, largest auction in the world, and a now defunct e-commerce brand, there are very few jobs I haven't gotten at least callback from.
I am extremely thankful that my career started in a small company. I learned a ton. The tech pivoted more quickly and people contributed more. I would favor people from a small company hands down.
Pedegree has worked for me, especially earlier in my career: Rolls-Royce aircraft programs, B/E Aerospace, Tetra Tech, etc. has helped with the numerous smaller companies I’ve worked with
I'm leaving a small company after 10 years to go to a big company.
I worked in large prestigious company and a small one. However at small companies, I have been given more responsibility that I would never get in a large corporation -that’s because you have to build experience up for years - at a small company I was able to do a lot of things that at a large company I would not be able to do. But my experience at prestigious corporations have helped me in bringing my org to the modern world.
I think it purely depends on the role as well you can be a basic customer support agent at one of the most reputed company or be a part of an year old start up but a role of project management or something big and i would definitely go for second one
I have worked for a fortune 10 company and I have to say while yes they use the latest technology, most likely they will have it so restricted that you will not really use it. As a data guy, i have spent forever on why I should be allowed to use data for my job because some IT director wants to control their turf. I worked on a major planning tool implementation and i showed up to 50 people in a kick off meeting. Big companies can expose you to a lot of interesting tools and business processes. But eventually I found I wanted span of control and smaller companies can provide that much easier.
In in the middle of doing this right now. I'm jumping from a small to medium sized firm to an ENR top 100 or so. So hoping their use of best practices saves me from the toxic culture I came from in the small office cultures I just came from.
I was lucky enough to work in a small team that operates in a very large company. I have more responsibility and learn more but with a company who isn’t likely to go away any time soon.
Depends on your personality. Big companies come with toadie culture. If you're the type that thrives on social politics, narrow specialization, conforming to culture, go for the big company. If you are a generalist, many hat wearer, like building new things, innovating, defining the culture, growing, then look for those small companies. The very best IMHO is to find a company early in the transformation from small to big. That is, a decent mom'n'pop shop recently bought by a small to medium holdings firm, with the intent of bundling businesses and trading up venture partners every 3-5 years.
In my experience there are pros and cons for each but the worst are private equity owned businesses. Those are brutal and so toxic in most cases.
if are a workaholic and eager beaver, go with small companies. if you want to work a set hours and want good amenities, go with larger companies. and at larger companies more of the staff treat job as a job not a purpose of life like in small companies. employers don't get employees only care about their work and getting paid. company profit is low on employees priorities
oh yeah big company will make you work with the newest and latest technology.
BUT
From my personal experience, the big company will give those "jobs" to some other new hired or worst, to some outsourced employee.
And from my experience, I've an better experience working with smaller company then the big one.
Working for a large company, I'm tired being a number/small cog in a giant machine.
I long for the old small company, where I can do my own thing
agree with everything you said. I started in small specialised company, moved through ranks and later moved to industry leading names (3 names).
In my experience people from busines really appreciate big names (sometimes without credit), but most work and most critical knowledge and practices I got from first small one. Admittedly I got broader experience in big company (your comment about latest technology). In terms of reimbursement and benefits bigger is better.
I do miss some things of working is small company: we were specialists, you write your own SOPs, you are integrated. But maybe i'm just nostalgic.
I saw a lot when new tech comes to small company easily while big ones had so many beauticy going around that the new solution stays years in line to be budgeted (talking from IT / software engineering perspective)
I quite disagree with the organization technologies and business practices of big cooperation. Too big / too old usually result to too slow for any change, especially in Japanese companies. They are only excellent at PR.
However, I cannot denine that big companies make your resume "look better".
If you want to learn on how to run your own business in the future, small companies could provide better experiences. But if you want to work until retirement then large corporations gives you a better career development.
I’ve done quite a bit of both in my career. Both brand names at the start for best in class onboarding and processes and startups for accelerated technical experience and entrepreneurial experience was key.
So it’s ideal in my experience if one can get both experiences.
Great channel by the way. I started my corporate career in personnel and benefits, even today, much of what you’ve been sharing is consistent with my experience over the decades.
I transitioned from a three thousand plus employer to a fifteen people employer. In the first job, I was overlooked and taken for granted to show up on random but crucial shifts, but in my current job (contract sadly ends by NYE) I really got recognized for my efforts, even on an international level. Both of these jobs involved getting news out to people.
(Tbh I have no idea what to do now for future work. I have an overwhelming feeling of "HELP". I know what I'm good at but idk if I can find the right thing for me)
How'd it go
@@scoopitywoop I started working in customer service for a large media house. But also this contract has an end date in January 2023, sadly.
@@JUMALATION1 sounds like you're in the same boat. Good luck!
I work in a very niche industry, and the smaller shops are more likely to have the hottest new software. Big places are afraid of crashing the pipeline. Loving this channel though! Really affirming!
Most start-ups are garbage, in general! You are 100% right on point #2, Brian!
I’ve worked at both large corporations (casino industry) and some small companies. As an employee at a small company it definitely makes more of an impact on the business.
I have only worked for small (at least small-ish) companies over the course of my career, and I'm wondering if I should jump on with the big boys for a little while. I'm nervous to do so, but it would be an awesome experience that I could learn from no matter if it's great or terrible!
I enjoy working for a moderately small company which is growing through organic growth or M&A. It allows for more responsive customer service but benefits from my desire to create processes and procedures that protect the growing company (bigger target) in a way that least interferes with that customer focus and company responsiveness.
I once got offer from a big name company in my country with billions of revenue each year. However, they're offer much lower salary than a small company that offered me job at the same time. I chose the smaller one because I need the extra money. Than from that smaller company I climbed my career ladder to find other slightly bigger company than that. Now I just got an offer with salary monthly increased by 45%.
I like small to mid sized personally but it’s all up to you.
Tesla still calls themselves a start up.....just thought Id let everyone know lol!
they are always starting something up
Love the information provided by this channel. Very helpful.
As a co-owner of a small shop. How do I handle a disrespectful employee that continuously cusses and talks back to me but no other member of the management team. How can I handle this in a professional matter. Anytime it is brought into the light, he starts threatening to fight me, Vandalize my vehicle. How can I get through to an employee that just does not respect me or my position but respects other management and refuses to do whatever I say. Would like to see a video on how to handle an issue like this
Being on both sides, small is generally better for work life balance. Bigger is better for raw compensation.
Small with growth options
very interesting...thanks for sharing
My suggestion - try for "start ups" within MNCs. Often they are reasonably sized, ~100. You get MNC benefits but something like a start up culture. Promotions are faster because often you get asked to do things way outside of your job scope. And because you are MNC-backed, your clients will tend to be big corporations too so your portfolio is not really super different. In fact you get better diversity in who you interact with - from the 1men shop based in some city of Qatar to the top global producers.
I work at a major US company but in a branch based outside of the country and I see it kind of difficult to move within the company because the positions where I am located aren't many and most of the people stay in their positions for decades as they want to make a lifelong career there. That's my side of the story.
I've found that smaller organizations can implement newer tech easier than bigger corps, mostly because large organizations have massive code bases that are almost impossible to replace.
Thanks for the useful advice!
Do you want to work at a company that is only interested in "brand recognition"? Perhaps I'm only thinking of tech industry (business or marketing will certainly benefit from better image), but if the recruiter is only interested in companies that my mom can recognize, it doesn't seem like they are very knowledgeable in the industry itself.
I work at a small company and know a few people at large companies. There is more stability and benefits for them, but they don't see the variety of projects/customer problems that I have the opportunity to see. Also, they seem to be more focused on the wealth/retirement trajectory than the tech itself. I am happy doing work and working with people very fascinated with the projects. I think if I started off at a large corporation, the money and benefits might be too good to leave and do what I like to do.
I got placed in a startup right after MBA. The experience was not that good and I'm planning to move. Since there is a bias for major recognized names, will I be stuck in a cycle of small companies?
Well, I think in this video you are trying to make a valid point and make it apply everywhere. Unfortunately with over 3 decades of work experience in the IT field, I can tell your views on Big company small company does not apply. In fact, you will find more satisfaction working for a small company than with a big company. As for big companies having better technology again, I have found that not to be the case. Big companies do not have the money you think to invest in the latest and greatest technology. I many cases other than for vital systems to run the business they are running old technology. They use new contracts to hopefully lead them into new technology.
As for salary let me state in my 3+ decades you couldn't be more incorrect. The big companies I worked for underpaid me and were cheap on their yearly raises. Additionally, their benefits packages were expensive for low quality. When I worked for small companies I got decent pay, decent benefits packages, and decent pay raises.
Like I said in some industries I am sure what you have said is true but I can tell you after my 3+ decades in my industry it is very much different. So I guess what I am saying is that your advice in this specific video depends upon the industry and does not apply to all industries.
Thanks for the advice. Very useful.
I have worked for three different major corporations and they are almost always behind on technological updates because they never budget for employee use tools, only customer end tools get updates.
I feel that small companies are more toxic than the big corporations, and although there are more employees, you get trained better at big corporations. I feel start ups want the most for the least. The small businesses want you to work much faster than in big corporations. This is what I have gotten from working in start ups and corporations. What do you think?
What if you have been working at the same FANG/ high pedigree company for 15+ years. How does a recruiter interpret that. What are the Pros and Cons for a candidate with that background? Thanks
This is very good to know. I’ve been at fortune 100 to 500 companies for the past 20 years. I thought it was less than my chances of being laid off but nope I’ve been laid off 4 times with 3 of them being at top Fortune 100-500 companies 🥴 my next time around I’m looking for a smaller company because outside of being laid off, I find that the more established companies are very behind when it comes to technology, new products, and not very innovative. I want to work for a company with a fresh perspective and the first one to the party.
Could you do a video on excelling in a career in an extremely poor economy like what it was like in 2009 for individuals who don't have the desire skills/experience?
Awesome video, thanks man.
As someone who left big companies to go mid. Unless you’re just starting out or an executive, gtfo while you can. Better pay, benefits and newer toolstacks to tinker with. Unfortunately you can experience getting purchased and ending up back in the system
I'm in a similar situation getting opportunity to learn a new skill and work compared to my current multi national top 10 bank in the world the role I'm working is shit and start up company offering me kinda similar money and benefits should I go for it and im just 22
I work for a large company now, but much of my experience was in smaller companies. One advantage of a small company is that you can be involved in the whole product/business life cycle.
If you are a Technical Geek, for example, you have your day-to-day duties doing Technical Geek stuff, but you can and should be involved in Customer interfacing, etc. (Working with your Customer is a big eye-opener!) From that experience, you can get involved in proposal responses, new business development, etc. I got to do these things as a Technical Geek at my prior employer; at my current employer, entire departments are dedicated to these tasks and the opportunity to contribute to the whole product life cycle is limited to "The Brass", Program Managers, Directors, VPs, etc. for the most part.
sounds like to me doing tons of unpaid work or doing multiples jobs on a single pay
Personally, I think it depends on the company and the quality of its leadership and services. Take medical clinics and organizations, for example. Large ones often offer much more growth potential and usually have better pay and benefits, but there's much more "numbers-crunching," more arbitrary measures, and it's much less personalized. Efficiency and toxicity often will vary wildly by department or location, fortunately mine is a good department and I hit it off pretty well with my managers. Smaller ones have less upward growth potential and can be very ''shoot from the hip" in terms of processes, but often feel more personalized with workers and bosses really getting to know one another, and smaller clinics can more easily make changes. However, when it comes to toxicity, it can be like throwing darts. Either you get a very family-like, positive atmosphere with close camaraderie, or you get a toxic environment with bullies who like to be the "big fish in a small pond."
It's tough to pivot from small to large and large to small. Much like an actor, you can get typecasted.
a recent interview started great, recruiter said I had all the right skill sets until asked how big my current company is.... the response was "Ohhhhhh.... that's SMALL......" so they didn't move me forward :(
A good small company is going to teach you work ethic, and if you go into a big company after this, you are going to stand out. The advantage of a large company is career mobility internal to orgs within the company and easier ability to navigate away from toxic culture pockets. That being said, there are a LOT of terrible managers parked in larger companies who will stall your career out. People who resist change are terrible and are how you get stuck behind the open market. Promotions are also popularity contests in large companies, especially at the senior level. No company is safe from corporate politics but learning how to effectively navigate them is going to be the biggest help to your career.
You’re best positioned to grow your career at a large company but it certainly isn’t nirvana.