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| Small | 64% | 331 votes | Total: 514 votes | |
| Large | 36% | 183 votes |
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Add to FavoritesBig Company or Small Company
Why would I want to work at one or the other?
I possess 11+ years experience in my field. I have done work for a both a large company and a small company. I have also done freelance work. I would argue slightly in favor of the smaller company, though I cannot deny that my experiences at the big company has helped to shape me and my skill sets.
Both types of companies, large and small, have their advantages and disadvantages. These factors will depend heavily on your perspective, your needs, and your own personal ambitions. Which atmosphere is better for you will further depend on your own ability to compromise on "need-to-haves" vs. "nice-to-haves". I worked for a big company for nearly seven years. I worked for a small company for just over two years. I have also done freelance for many years.
Big Company
Big companies have a lot of advantages. You can potentially get a higher paying starting salary than you would get at a smaller company. There are usually more opportunities for advancement. Insurance packages are generally better as well. The big company's name recognition doesn't hurt to have on your resume either.
A big company may offer payment options for you to further your education. Usually though, there are stipulations. You might have to stay with the company for a specified amount of time after attaining any degrees or certifications. You are also limited to what you can study (that they will pay for). The big company isn't going to find it to be very cost-effective to pay for your educational advancement if is not in line with your current job or career path with them. Depending on where you want to go personally, this can be either a boon or a bain.
The disadvantages at a big company, at least from my personal perspective, are as follows:
Is your company public or private? Will you be getting annual raises or stock options? My big company that I worked for was privately owned for over twenty years, until the owners sold their company to an even larger public company. All of the sudden the employees were given "stock options" instead of "raises". As an employee of a public company, you can only sell your stock during certain times and only through an authorized trader for your company (who gets part of your profits). If you leave the company, your stock options become null and void after a certain amount of time.
There is little room for creative freedom at a big company. At least I found it to be so. There are also multiple levels of accountability. If you are a graphic or web person like I was, you will have to answer to multiple levels within your own department: your peers, a team lead, a copywriter, and a creative director. There are also middle managers and heads of other departments who could have a direct or indirect influence over your work. That's potentially a lot of bosses for someone at the bottom! This can be quite stressful.
If you personally are not a fan of meetings, then a big company is definitely not an atmosphere that you will enjoy. There are department meetings, brainstorming meetings, quality assurance meetings, progress meetings, conference calls etc. I was never a fan of the department phone conference call.
Advancement can be tricky. If you are at the bottom and you have no aspirations towards middle management, then your opportunities for advancement are limited. Your best option in that case is to transfer to anther department where you could get a potentially higher salary. You find yourself at the bottom rung again of a whole different ladder.
If you are a salaried employee, then you aren't getting paid for potential overtime or weekend work. There is always the possibility that your boss will have you work extra hours. There may be other incentives of course, but "time-and-a-half" pay isn't usually one of them.
Do you have to commute to your big company? I never liked spending an hour each way in traffic to get to and from work. Perhaps you don't have that experience, but I commuted that way for years. I eventually did move closer to work to avoid this long dive. As a consequence, my rent went up significantly, as I was now located in a much more expensive area.
This last point comes from personal experience. I went through a company merger. Another even bigger company bought out the big company that I worked for. As I was a web designer/developer for the majority of my career at the previous big company, nearly all of my work has since disappeared in the aftermath of merger. Make sure to keep some sort of record of all of your duties and things that you have done. Otherwise, you may find that you have nothing to put in your portfolio.
How important to you is company loyalty? Our parents worked at the same company for 20-30 years. The fact that I worked at my big company for over seven years is pretty rare nowadays. Most of my coworkers stayed at a job for a year to two years and then got hired somewhere else. Are big companies still as loyal to their employees as they used to be? I suppose that is a separate debate.
So, if you need a steady job, steady pay, good insurance and benefits... If you are not so concerned with creative freedom and you don't mind multiple bosses and various levels of approval and accountability, then a big company is probably for you. In retrospect, it was definitely not for me.
Small Company
Instead of being in a huge office with around 1500 employees, you might find yourself in an office of 15 employees. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing. It is a much more personal atmosphere. There is definitely less of an issue with "office politics"; red tape and such. Usually, at a smaller company, you will have the manager of the office there, a senior developer or designer, a secretary, and a group of workers. The owner or owners, might make an occasional appearance if they are not directly involved in the day-to-day-activitie s. The chances are pretty good that there will be more emphasis on time management and less emphasis on bureaucracy, i.e. you will spend "more time working" and "less time in meetings".
Working at a small company has many disadvantages as well:
You don't get the name recognition for your portfolio at a small company that you would at a big company. A little "mom and pop" shop might not be so impressive to potential employers further down the line.
The pay is definitely not as good. Smaller companies are much more sensitive to their bottom lines. As a consequence, they cannot compete with the potential wages at a bigger company.
The insurance options probably don't cover as much as they would with the big company, if you are offered an insurance plan (if you are full time at the smaller company). If you have any "pre-existing health conditions", no matter how innocuous, be prepared to receive a bit more scrutiny and potential "exception riders" to your plan.
A small company means small staff. This means that there are potentially staff members at a small company that have to fill more than one role. Not only are you the web designer, but also now you are also the web developer, the copywriter, the QA tester, occasionally the salesman, and sometimes the person answering the phones as well. Typically multiple staff members at a larger company handle single roles. These jobs at a big company, all separately demand pretty high wages in and of themselves.
A lot of a small company's business is going to be local "handshake" business. People the owners know, or people who know people who recommended the small company's services. A big company will probably have a dedicated sales staff to get business.
A small company is also not going to always willingly put forth money for things like marketing materials, i.e. brochures, mailers, and fliers. For every cost, there needs to be ROI (Return On Investment). ROI is much more heavily scrutinized at the level of the smaller company. Another money issue to consider is that there may not be a program for you to further your education with a smaller company. That choice might be entirely dependent on you and your own time and funds.
So as an employee, you have to ask yourself, what is important to you: higher salary, job security, and potentially better insurance coverage... or more creativity, less bureaucracy and more personal peace of mind? Are you looking to put a big-name company on your resume for future employers? Are you looking to climb the corporate ladder? Or are you happy just doing the work that you are doing? I was much happier doing the work and having a more intimate role with all aspects of the business than I was going to endless meetings and having no creative freedom. Maybe you have the same point of view.
Learn more about this author, Scott Johnson.
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Large
The answer to this question is probably a resounding, "It depends."
If you seek lots of direct daily contact with your co-workers and a more laid-back or informal work atmosphere, working for a small business should be your priority. Second choice would be working in a small department within a large corporation or within a non-profit organization.
However , many workers have a variety of different priorities, short- or long-term. Some of them include:
1. Paid time off: I got a big surprise a couple of years ago when a friend had emergency surgery and was off work about a month. He worked as an accountant for a firm with one owner and nine employees. Not only did he receive only five days of annual vacation after working there several years, he earned no sick leave. Ever. The company wasn't required to offer it. Typically, large corporations offer more time paid off than smaller firms as far as vacation, sick leave and holidays.
2. Insurance: For many employees, adequate health insurance is more important than income. Working for a large corporation typically affords you more choices as far as types of plans for example, HMO vs. PPO and has a lower employee share of the premium. Individuals or their dependents with expensive health conditions are less likely to be excluded from coverage. Health savings accounts (HSAs) are now common. Some large employers also make disability, life insurance and long-term care policies available, which is less common when you work for a small business.
3. Retirement: Sadly, defined benefit pension plans are becoming rare. However, you have a much better chance of snagging one with a large employer than with a small one. If the company offers a 401(k) to fund employees' retirement, plans offered by a large corporation are more likely to offer an employer match and more investment choices. Many small firms offer no retirement plans.
4. Career advancement: By sheer numbers alone, there are more jobs open at a big corporation than at its small cousin. Often employees are hired into slots that are part of career ladder featuring a planned progression of responsibility and compensation to retain good workers. Financial bonuses, in-house training and paid outside training are, overall, more plentiful with a larger employer. In some cases, an employee who performs well and who has a mentor can almost expect an automatic promotion if he or she finishes a particular academic degree or employment-related training program.
5. Career change: If you're burned out as the editor of a company publication and think you'd like to try your hand in marketing or sales, your only choice might be to change employers if you work for a small company. Not so with many large employers. It's sometimes possible to even plan the transition to another slot within the company so that there's overlap with your successor.
6. Other perks: They don't show up as a direct deposit, but they're much more prevalent at a large corporation than at a small business. Among the most popular are a charitable donation match from the employer, free or discounted gym membership, gratis tickets to cultural attractions, periodic awards such as employee of the month and company-wide freebies such as picnics and holiday dinners.
Learn more about this author, Vonda Sines.
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