Size Does Not Matter.

Free advice inside!

Now that you have clicked on this article I want to regretfully inform you that the content of this article is not what you expect it to be. Yet, if you are among potential candidates to switch jobs or just entering into the professional world, please read on. I guarantee that by the end of this read you will have a better understanding when making the best decision about which job to go for to (re)start your career.

Be ready to be amazed (or not)

Having recently left a job from a Fortune 500 company in Pakistan after a 7 months stint there as a software developer, I felt the need to write this piece. If you take factors into account such as scale, outreach and the number of international accolades that particular company has racked up, you would consider it to be the Google of Pakistan. Now, add in free food, health insurance, a competitive salary to the mix and you will be forced to doubt my decision of quitting the company and I would never blame you for doing so.

Towards the million dollar question: Why did I leave?

Building towards my answer, I wanted to mention a few inspirational anecdotes that most of us are familiar with. More often than not, there are success stories of people who went on to create successful careers after either quitting or losing their initial jobs. First, they were brilliant people to begin with. One such example is Kevin Systorm’s story of leaving Google to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams to create Instagram. Moreover, how can we forget the infamous story of the late Steve Jobs; founder of Apple Inc, of being let go by his own company that he built from scratch. It was a devastating blow during his career and he faced existential crisis as a result of this incident. Regardless, that did not stop him from launching his next big product: NeXT, with a little help from loyal ex-Apple engineers. What Jobs said also rings true for the reader to ponder upon:

Our time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Coming back, I learned much about myself during the past few months. I understood what it felt like being just a speckle of dust, a grain in the sand. The feeling of being undervalued and most importantly being isolated; both emotionally and physically, in a place that houses one of the biggest task force in the country. I realized that a place that induces anxiety and affects your well being and mental health is never a suitable place to work in the first place. The saying goes — when one door closes multiple others open waiting for you to look their way. Hence, I consider myself lucky for looking the right way at a very opportune time. I joined a startup on the day of my graduation anniversary. Talk about kismet! On receiving the offer, I did not think twice about the decision and had to drop the bombshell to my now previous employer.

Leaving the company like…

Point being, exiting a big company to join a smaller setup gives one a very real feeling of becoming a beginner once again. You go back to the drawing board, unlearning stuff that was forced upon you and learning the skills that matter to you for your personal growth. Here the purpose of the article is mainly to give you a first hand experience of what factors to consider when deciding to work for a startup or for a multi-national company.

A Note About Startups

I feel that fresh graduates should be partially selective in deciding where to work. Startups have a very appealing vibe and rightfully so. The workforce is usually young and have a contagious energy to learn whatever they could from their peers. This can work positively in the long run. How so? Well, if you manage to spend a faithful amount of time there, expect to achieve multi variate skill set in your repertoire. Lets assume a fresh graduate who is hired as a marketing or content writer in a company that extensively makes use of digital solutions to solve problems. You may get an insight into Web Technologies, Search Engine Optimization, using social media effectively to handle businesses to name a few. The mentioned skills are among the essentials to have if you decide to take the leap of creating your own business one day.

Exceptionally important is that you feel you have a sense of purpose in startups. Mark Zuckerberg makes a poignant statement about ‘purpose’ as well in his Harvard commencement speech. You have direct impact both positive and negative in the startup’s product and affairs. In that particular space you are the master of your craft, leading from the front.But, hold on a minute before you massage your ego. There is a downside to this freedom. Your skills are limited if you are just starting out and the moment you get stuck on something you will struggle profoundly. Again, you are the ONLY master in that designation and in that particular space I mentioned.

In order to avoid such a situation, self-learning is key. You have to develop strict discipline to learn everyday such that you master a particular skill. Another valid option is to find a mentor who is willing to guide you in the direction you want to go. The startup environment provides you a platform of accelerated learning and you have to keep up with the pace because the company’s mission and objectives are at stake since other startups situated globally might be working towards the same goals as well. Lagging behind means you lose the race. Plain and simple.

My review about startups in a nutshell :

Pros

1. Fast paced learning.
2. Freedom to learn technologies, tools at your own will
3. Skill diversification
4. Dynamic culture

Cons

1. Less pay compared to established companies (not always the case)
2. Few mentors with limited experience in the field you are hired for.
3. Instability
4. Fewer perks compared to established companies.

A Note About Multi-National Companies

So you have decided to join the big dogs of the companies. The excitement of joining a prestigious name is surreal, I have felt it too. However, I want to dive deeper and ask you about the real motivation to join it? Stop here for 10 seconds before continuing and think about your answer.

So I am guessing among your reasons you might say the company belongs to Fortune 500 and the brand name will look good on your resume, you might get a hefty paycheck and based on performance might get a promotion or you might think you are making an impact on the market you are dealing with. Sure if the gif below is your ultimate goal, by all means you have the right to pursue it. But I want to digress a little.

Here comes the money.

The above mentioned points are all fair enough reasons to motivate you but one has to realize that the job market is saturating at a tremendous pace and having a single skill is not enough. Tech knowledge is enormously ubiquitous and a little know how can work in your favor.

A short review would be that companies with a running business in different parts of the world, generally have a big task force of 200+ employees on average. This means, these companies need to have a structured hierarchy in order to set positions based on the employee’s role and experience. It also partly provides motivation to fresh employees to develop their career path according to this structure.

However, such complex organization hierarchies prove problematic when it comes to internal communication. Lower ranked individuals might be able voice their suggestions or concerns but they never reach the higher ups. Even if they do, they tend to ignore it because why spend time and money to fulfill extraneous wants of a minority of people. Hence, the ‘Employee’s First’ value of the company instantly fails here. Public policies have to be adhered regardless of whether people like it or not. The price to pay for the high salary is sucking the life force out of the person. Now you know what ‘corporate slavery’ feels like.

My review about multi-nationals in a nutshell would be the following:

Pros

1. Stability
2. Exposure to work in a top-class industry with massive outreach
3. Competitive salary
4. Perks and benefits improve as you progress

Cons

1. Stressful environment
2. Lesser impact
3. Very focused growth.
4. Politics

Concluding Remarks

Personally, having limited experience myself, I am still exploring unknown territories and so are you. That is the beauty of life, the excitement of the future. You have to keep going wherever fate leads you. In the job scene, there is no right or wrong decision because it is the individual like you and the group of people around you; as a whole, that make the experience of working worthwhile. Reach out to colleagues whenever you need help with something. Both provide excellent platforms to learn but if you think about it, it really boils down to what career path one wants to pursue.

I hope the very best in your endeavors and may the force be with you!