As I mentioned in our most recent article (if you missed it… go check it out from Monday!), I worked for an extremely large corporate office this summer. In reflecting on my experience, I recognized that there truly is a large difference between working for a large company versus a smaller one. While I am not here to tell you which is better (because that is truly up to your own personality type and preferences) I am excited to share and offer a few perspectives to assist you in your own future job search.

Top 4 Differences…

1. Daily Interactions: If you work for a small company, it is almost guaranteed that you will be able to build strong, deep-rooted connections with each of the employees that you interact with each day and in every project. You’ll come to quickly understand “who does what” and where to go to reach out for help in any instance. However, working for a large company means that you will be working alongside many people who specialize in an array of different roles. For that reason, you will likely find yourself reaching out to many different people for each different need. Doing so will help you to immerse yourself in different types of positions and establish a collective understanding of how your company operates and achieves success.
2. Lateral Movements: Are you ready to settle down in a position and dig your roots deep? If so, I would encourage you to check out a smaller organization. Doing so will help you to solidify your role and gain deep, intellectual knowledge in your newfound specialty. However, if you are someone who is still unsure of what you want to do in the end game (which is also totally okay – and is more like me!), then you may want to think about working for a larger corporation that will provide you with the ability to make lateral movements often, sometimes even yearly. Lateral movement will help you to explore new opportunities without having to conduct a whole new job search.
3. Relationship Building: As it relates to daily interactions, communicating to a smaller group of people will allow you to cultivate meaningful relationships, potentially helping you to see a “home” in your role for many years to come. On the other hand, as working for a large organization will require many hands on deck across several teams, meeting many people will assist you in creating a larger network and building various connections that you never know when you may need!
4. Mentorship Opportunities: If you work in an office that requires people to work in all types of roles in order to continue to operate (ie: Google, Apple, Sephora, etc.), your mentorship opportunities will range across several different “sub-industries” of business. However, if you are someone who is confident that you want to stay in your position and become a specialist, working for a small company may help you to find that person to act as a mention and vision of who you hope to be farther on in your career. In my personal experience, not knowing exactly what I want to do, I enjoyed finding a mentor in a Marketing role while I was housed in Risk, as it helped me envision a future outside of the office I was currently a team member within.

 

Hopefully, this helped you to visualize yourself in a bunch of different offices! So… which was your favorite? Keep trying to weigh your values and desires as you begin your full-time job or internship search in these upcoming months.

Stay tuned for our upcoming article on “What to Look Out For” when you’re evaluating your position! Missed our article on Monday? Check it out here!

Looking for a new position? Check out our open jobs!