Why Job Seekers Should Start Finding Big Opportunities in Small Companies
When finding a job, don’t overlook small companies.
Every year, thousands of job seekers compete with each other for a place among major employers. But once the dust settles and you find yourself on the losing end, what should you do?
It may be high time to re-evaluate your prospects and apply to small businesses and start-up companies!
Otherwise known as small to medium enterprises (SMEs), these small businesses and start-up companies play a significant role in Asian economies and currently accounts for at least half of formal employment available in various countries. [source] SMEs are defined (among other criteria) as organizations which are composed of up to 249 employees. While small companies may not have the same perks and benefits that Fortune 500 companies offer, they’re a good place for professional growth and advancement.
Convinced yet? If not, here are a few other reasons that might just persuade you to consider finding big career opportunities in small companies.
You know everyone and everyone knows you.
Small companies pride themselves for being tight-knit and for having a distinct culture where you know everyone and everyone knows you. Everyone knows everyone well – sometimes even on a personal level. Of course, this kind familiarity fosters healthy working relationships leading to close cooperation between members as well as improved productivity. In contrast, you can spend years and years working for a large corporation and may not even know the real name of the person seated in the cubicle adjacent to you.
You work closely with upper management.
Being an SME employee means working much closer with the owners, managers and even the investors of the company. Working closely with upper management often keeps things agile – workflow, submissions as well as the approval of proposals and projects. More than that, working closely with the upper management provides you with the opportunity to show the useful and unique things you have to offer the organization.
Your accomplishments are more visible.
In a small company, no good deed goes unnoticed. As an employee, you become an instrumental part of the organization and not just some common pencil pusher acting as role filler for the company. You are always involved with the every bit of action going on. Thus, you will come to the office every single day feeling like you are truly doing something productive with your day. It won’t be difficult for anyone to acknowledge your contribution to the company. And when they do, you get to feel like you are valued more.
You can easily widen your skill set.
Though your job description may be narrowly defined, your responsibilities are often widely varied. While this may not necessarily sound positive or beneficial for employees, those who are willing to challenge themselves to learn new skills will surely enjoy working for a small company. This breaks the awful monotony of tasks most people dread when working for big shot companies.
You create your own opportunities.
Ever felt stuck in the position that you are in? In a smaller organization, you have the power and flexibility to plan your own career path. And even when you are still in the process of planning your future (career-wise), great opportunities are often afforded to those who really deserve it. If you work really hard to be among the “deserving ones” then who knows how far these opportunities can take you.
Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Keep this in mind when targeting a potential company to work for.