Company Size

I haven’t been around Goldilocks-ing around trying loads of companies of different sizes in order to write this blog post. But I have worked at two very differently sized companies and have experienced the pros and cons of each. Here’s the good (👍), the bad (👎), and there’s an a** for every seat (🍑).

At the very start of my career, I worked at a very small firm which was just me, one coworker, and my boss in the office plus an admin who worked remote. Recently, I’ve moved to a mid-sized firm with about thirty people in my office and more than forty offices globally.

Now that I have some experience in both smaller and larger company environments, I can give you my thoughts:

SMALL COMPANY

If you want to learn a lot of stuff very quickly, a smaller company can provide a more condensed experience than a larger company. If you like to wear different hats, you may get to try your hand in drafting, project management, business management, marketing, and engineering. You just need to make sure that you get along with your boss, as you’ll be working very closely with one another. And you may need to network for additional P.E. references.

👍 Faster learning curve: You’ll learn much more quickly at a smaller company and can potentially fast track your career. You can find yourself with the equivalent of someone else’s 5 years of experience with just 2 years on the job.

👍 Wider range of skills: At a smaller company, you’ll have your hand in several different pots. There may not be a dedicated drafting department, so you may have to do drafting. You may get to be more involved in the business side of engineering. This can give you the opportunity to develop a wider range of skill sets that you can use to beef up your resume.

👍 Able to effect change: It’s easier to make changes within a company if there are less hoops to jump through. If you want to improve something, there are fewer people who need to give the OK.

👍 Less internal meetings: It’s a real contrast how many more meetings I have at a larger company. With less people working on a project, you don’t need as many meeting to catch up. It’s definitely easier to get work done without meetings eating up your day. It can also be easier to schedule meetings with your coworkers and boss with less internal meetings eating up everyone’s time.

👎 Less benefits: Larger companies can get better deals on benefits. You don’t get as much swag, healthcare (dental, vision), gym memberships, etc. at a smaller company.

👎 Less mentors: You’ll have fewer people to learn from and to receive guidance from. And there may not be a lot of room to grow after you’ve tapped the limited resources. There will be less diverse points of views to draw from, which can be limiting if you come from a unique background. With less mentors, you will also have less built-in references for your P.E.

👎 Less backup: With less people working at the company, there may not be the resources to put onto projects that need it. As a result, there will be more ups and downs with your workload and the pressure that comes with it.

🍑 More boss face time: You’ll have fewer bosses at a smaller company and they’ll know you better. It’s great if you get along with your boss and can be bad if you don’t get along.

🍑 More responsibility: At a smaller company, you’ll probably get pushed into the pool to see if you can swim. You will get more responsibility and be expected to contribute more. If you’re able to figure out how to swim, you’ll be rewarded with extremely valuable experience. If you can’t figure it out, you’ll in a high-pressure high-stress situation without very many people to help you out.

🍑 More investment in company: Smaller companies typically see more investment from it’s employees. You’ll find employees investing more of their time, money, and resources into the company. This can be good if you’re equally invested. Not so great if you’re not.

🍑 Less marketing: Smaller companies don’t blast their openings on all the sites online or go to all the college fairs. It may take a little more research and some phone calls to find positions at smaller companies.

BIG COMPANY

If you want to work on larger-scale projects, a larger company will typically bag larger more high-profile jobs. If you prefer a lower pressure work environment, a larger company will have the resources to allow you to have a more manageable workload. You just need to make sure that you’re setting yourself apart and advocating for yourself, as you may get lost in the crowd otherwise. Also, take advantage of those benefits!

👍 More benefits: At a larger company, you’ll have more access to benefits. Healthcare, dental, FSA, HSA, gym memberships, 401K, pet insurance, life insurance, etc. (You’ll have to remember more usernames and passwords though!) You’ll also get some free stuff. Swag, occasional lunches, snacks and drinks in the break room, etc.

👍 More mentorship: You’ll have more people to collect guidance and learn from. With more people, you’ll also have a more diverse pool to draw from. You will have access to more people to be references for your PE.

👍 More resources (including IT): You’ll have access to webinars, lunch and learns, conferences, and more people to ask for advice and guidance. You’ll have more tech resources as well, with communication software to work with other offices, IT department, and more developed software. Take advantage of any resources and learning opportunities available to you.

👍 Developed career paths: With more people at a company, you can see several examples of paths your career can go. There may even be available resources of developed career paths that you can use to guide your career. It’s easier to imagine where your career can go when you can see someone else who did it before you.

👎 Harder to effect change: There will be more people and more departments who need to give the OK to make any changes in the company. If you have any ideas to improve the company, however small, it may be a long-winded battle.

👎 Limitations of employee grade levels: Larger companies typically have more structured systems for employee grade levels and salary ranges for each position. These can be limited by standard quantifiable measures such as years of experience and certifications. Even if you’re an exceptional employee, you may be stuck in a box when it comes to raises and promotions.

👎 Slower learning curve: With less initial responsibility, it may take a little longer to get all the skills under your belt. You’ll need to spend some more time proving yourself to get more responsibility.

👎 More internal meetings: With more people working on a project, you’ll need to spend more time catching up with everyone. Your day may be eaten up by internal meetings, and it’ll give you less time to work on that report or calculations package. With all these meetings floating around, it’ll also be harder to schedule meetings with others.

🍑 Bigger projects: Larger companies have the resources to work on bigger projects. If huge high-profile projects float your boat, you may be interested in working at a bigger company. Note that if you’re a newbie, you may be a small cog in the machine. So you may not be working on the most interesting part of the project.

🍑 Less responsibility: With more people working on a project, you may be only responsible for a small piece of the puzzle. With less responsibility, you may not be getting as accelerated experience as you would at a smaller company. However, you may be able to leave the work at the office every night in this lower pressure environment which can be important for work-life balance.

🍑 Less investment from employees: Larger companies typically see less investment from it’s employees. There won’t be a culture of employees investing a lot of themselves into the company. This is great if you want your job to be a job. But may not necessarily be for those who like to be surrounded by other people super passionate about their work.