Advice for Those Just Starting out of College

If you are a new or recent graduate, you might ask yourself whether you should work for a large, established company or take a chance on a smaller company or startup.

If you have a large, well known and respected company like Microsoft / Google / Oracle / Sun on your resume, you are more likely to stand out than if you worked for “JoeSchmo Savings & Loan” or “Mom & Pop’s Web Shop”. Also, the fact that you were employed by such respected companies means that you’ve already passed through some tough screening processes. And finally, you may also learn more at the larger companies, especially since they are more likely to have formal training programs and knowledgeable employees.

Also, larger companies typically pay better to start with than smaller companies, as they have more financial resources.

On the other hand, people who work at smaller shops are more likely to acquire a wider range of experience. For example, at Microsoft you might work on one small component for Internet Explorer; however, at a small web shop you might be responsible for writing the HTML and CSS, the ASP.NET codebehind, JavaScript on the client side, and ADO.NET in the business layer, as well as setting up and maintaining a SQL Server box and an IIS box. You would never get that breadth of experience at a large company, as that work would likely be divided up amongst at least four or five people.

Plus, at a smaller company it’s possible that you’ll advance faster – if the company grows, that is. Larger companies often have more prerequisites for advancement, such as time spent in a position, advanced degrees, etc. Larger companies may also have restrictions on things like pay raises. Smaller companies are less likely to be burdened by such policies.

So the choice is yours: a better looking resume, or more hands-on experience. Not an easy decision by any means.