When looking for a job, it is all too easy to become a little blinkered. When that happens there is a high risk that you will miss a golden opportunity.
Small firms need skilled personnel too
Our first tip is not to limit your job search to just national and multi-national companies. Small firms need skilled workers just as much as the larger ones do. For example, companies like SmartSign needed people with accountancy, print, marketing and many other skills, right from the start.
Small firms can grow very quickly
This particular company has only been in business, since 1999. But, it has grown at a phenomenal rate. In just 20 years they have gone from working out of a basement to serving over a million customers, in 75 countries.
So, the people who started working with them in the early days have had an amazing opportunity to grow too. This can easily happen to you if you give working with start-ups a try.
A more exciting environment to work in
Working for a start-up is certainly exciting. In the early days, everyone has little choice but to all muck in together.
As a result, most employees find themselves learning new skills at a phenomenal rate. When you work for a large company it is all too easy to get stuck done doing mundane tasks that you hate all day long. The chances are that every year you will be asked to change roles.
This looks great on your resume. It effectively demonstrates that you are a dependable employee who is adaptable and has a broad range of skills. So, when you want to move on and work for someone else, doing so will be easy.
It is far easier to get noticed and appreciated
Provided you work hard and do a good job the chances are your efforts will be noticed. In a small firm, practically everyone knows each other and what they do. Provided you have a good boss they will see to it that you are financially rewarded and promoted, when possible.
In a larger firm, usually, only your immediate boss and teammates will understand just how hard you work. If you are very lucky, your boss, will advocate for you and push you forward for promotion. But, all too often, this does not happen. Understandably, managers and team leaders want to hang onto good people when they find one. So, they have a conflict of interests, which, more often than not leads to them doing their best to keep you on their team. When really what you need is to move on and grow your skill set.
The chance of stock options
A lot of start-ups offer their employees stock options when they go public. If you are lucky enough for that to happen, you could end up being very rich. Of course, this does not happen in every case. But, it is a possibility. You can find out more about how start-up stock options work, by clicking here.
