I don’t want to work for a big company

Edit: Discuss this post over at HackerNews.

I recently had a long discussion with someone about how working in a big company is supposedly better for me and my career than working in smaller companies in a tighter, more “friendly” team structures. I strongly disagree.

Based on the arguments received, I concluded that working in a big company would bring me the following things:

• More long-term projects with greater overall satisfaction, as in seeing a major product launch rather than just working for small businesses
• More likely to get better company benefits
• Better chances of advancing to the top of the hierarchy

I don’t know, does that sound good to you? Is that all we look for, benefits and a longer title?

I want to learn new things in my work, and as it stands, I can’t spend a day at work without learning something new. I try out new technologies, sometimes push them to their limits and then change to another one when I realize it’s not a good fit anymore.

After I said I wanted to learn more, I was told to go to school.

I’m self-educated for what I do, but also certain there’s many things I could learn in school which could help my overall knowledge and understanding of things.

But being in school is not something I truly want. I love creating, innovating, pushing myself with real-world challenges and projects, and the amount of satisfaction you get from pushing something out there is tremendous.

Would I rather work for myself than a big company, given the chance? Absolutely. Picking my own clients and projects would be a dream come true, and in smaller companies you have a higher chance of making that happen since you might not have a “Sales Dude Extraordinaire” following every lead trying to bring in the cash. Be different, niched and focus on quality over quantity. That’s what gets you going.

In my opinion, the larger the company and the higher the hierarchy, the harder it is to innovate and experiment with something different for that next project. Decision making is slow and you most likely won’t have any say in the process.

I don’t mean that I should be in charge of everything that gets passed around in the company I work for, but I do like having an opinion that’s not instantly turned down because someone is used to something different. If you feel like you’re in the position where you’re just a small guy (or gal) in the crowd, being told you’re part of a bigger picture, I have to tell you, the satisfaction isn’t that great. You might think different.

Of course, not everyone thinks like me, and all of this is just my personal opinion, but I had to get it out there after the painful conversation leading to nowhere coming from a guy who’s worked for a big company all his career (as far as I know, I might be wrong).

That’s it for my first post. Please let me know of your own opinions on the case over at twitter (@clooth), since after all, that’s all this post is.

Enjoy the read? Recommend or tweet it below!