Why I Choose To Work For A Small Company: A Career Suggestion

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Like many of us, we once envisioned ourselves  working  for one dream company someday. We had the default mindset that working for that company will mean a lot to our career and it is  basically one of the  goals we wouldn’t want to miss. Probably one reason why we thought this way was that we were up to the benefits, the salary and of course, the pride of  simply being a part of that organization.

But I was glad I came to learn that in the real world, it does not actually work that way if you really want to achieve a great career.  It was really enlightening to know that I was thinking wrong all the time. As I dug deeper and researched about how successful people built their careers, I discovered they did not begin by being an employee to a famous company or so, it was either they started their own from scratch or at least they were part of a small business and then committed  themselves to make it grow. When Jack Ma, the owner of Ali Baba was asked what advice he can give to the young people, he specifically mentioned that working for a small company is a great start.  

After my board exam, I didn’t know what to do exactly. It was actually one of the most difficult decisions to make. Which company, which line of work and many more things to consider.  But to make my decision making much easier, I decided to narrow it down by asking myself two simple questions- Where can I learn the most? And where can I get a decent compensation just enough to sustain my daily needs? I didn’t think much about having high salary or lots of benefits that time. That was how I got into EVOLUZN Inc., a design house for devices such as routers, mobile phones and the likes.  It has been 7 months since I got here and there is a great fulfillment in me knowing  I have learned so much and more than that, I was given an opportunity to go out of the country to Thailand last June! An opportunity I can’t have if I went the other way around. It was my first trip out of the country that was why it was very memorable for me. It was a challenging trip for me because it was also my first time to work with foreign company, but it love challenges! I really learned and enjoyed a lot during that trip to the point that i did not even notice that 8 days have gone by.

Every time I tell people about my work and the company where I am, the very first question they will ask is that “ Is that a big company? How much is your salary? And so many more questions.  It’s annoying sometimes to keep explaining to them why I choose to be in this company. That is probably one of the reasons why I would like to write about it and besides, I  would like to suggest this to other people especially the new graduates or anybody who wants to start a career.

  

Working for a small company teaches you a lot

Small companies don’t have many human and material resources. Because there are few people, each team member has a wide scope of work to do. In a big company, each worker is a part of a gigantic machine wherein each one has a designated task to do. Each cubicle has their own job description and sometimes, if you go   beyond  the scope of work assigned to you , other employees might misunderstand your actions as being invasive to other's business. But in a company like ours, it is very  different, there are only few people but the  goal to grow is there that is why  people within the small company  work hard without being limited to a single job description in order to be productive. I experienced working on the different aspects of the company such as finances, marketing, technical, operations and customer relations. Right now I have a wide understanding of how the business works which I believe will be very useful as  I grow in my career. Being a part of this company did not just teach me about the process of work  but also  the passion of growing a  company, the  challenges and the many different ways to address a problem with limited resources.

Opportunity  to learn from the leader

“It is not which company you work for, but which boss you follow”. I really believe in this statement and working for EVOLUZN, I have direct communications with the company owner/ CEO. This provides me with the opportunity to learn from him and I really  take advantage of it. What is great about this is that he becomes my mentor and I learn a lot from him. His experiences, his realizations in life, how he decides on critical matters and many more.   I am able to directly learn the culture of the company and its philosophy from the very person who started it. Having a direct communication to my boss gives me the feeling of engagement; I really feel my significance as a member of the company. To be honest, this is one of the greatest motivators I have working for this company.

Better career possibilities

For now the company is small, but sooner or later  with great vision and hard work, it will grow eventually and by that time, the company will hire more people. Since I was a part of its humble beginnings, there is  a probability of handling more responsibilities  since I am one of the very few people who have knowledge about the company’s operations, culture and visions. Moreover, having been working with the company pioneer  for a period of time means he knows me personally and at the same time has an idea about my skill sets. Getting a promotion in a big companies takes years! But if a small company does great, climbing the career ladder will be much faster.

You will never get bored

In a small company, there is always action. If today I am doing some technical work, then later or tomorrow, I will be working on some marketing and customer relations and many more. The point is that there is no single work to be done, there are a lot of them. The variety of activity allows me to enjoy the work more since I don’t have to stick to one single task for a long period of time. In many cases, doing the same thing over and over again is one of the major cause why we get bored.

You learn to work hard

Hard work is a value that has no replacement.  What I learned working for this company is producing more than what is expected from me. Because there are lots of different things needed to be done at the same time, I am encouraged to finish task after task efficiently so that they will not pile up eventually. Many times it has been said, “Hard work means talent, when talent fails to work hard”. This has been my mindset ever since. Knowing that this is my very first job and my experience and knowledge are both limited, I want to make sure I can compensate by giving my best in what I do by accomplishing more than what is expected from me.

To summarize my point, I have nothing against working in those big companies; as a matter of fact I strongly suggest it for those whose priorities are inclined to earning money. But for those who are brave enough to explore and be different, I suggest let us challenge the norm. Let us find where we can have most learning and experience we can have. Our career is not merely about earning money but rather growing as an individual or as a professional. There is nothing wrong with conforming to the status quo, but there are always greater rewards for those who dare to take the road less traveled.