This article is part of the “Career Advice” series.
If you’re applying for a job and tell your family and friends that you’re applying somewhere like Exxon or Google, then they will have a clear indicator of the kind of job you’ll be likely to have. Reliable, well-paid, steady. The same happens when you talk to recruiters too. But does this mean that you are better off working for a larger ‘brand’ name company early on in your career path?
It can be a hard question to define, as it will depend on you and will depend on your work ethic, skills, and attitude to work. But it does seem like it is a definite maybe, as an answer to the question. So here are some of the good things versus bad things, for working for a blue chip company.
Pros
For starters, you will learn about good business practice when you work for a brand name company. Bigger companies will have bigger reach and bigger targets to set, so it can be a good thing if you’re a bit of a beginner, that needs to understand how business works. Learning about these kinds of things, and about budgeting, hiring, and KPIs, can be good skills to learn for your future in corporate business. It can also help you to establish best practice and looking for ways to improve things, much like Shiply, for example. It will also help you to know what to do if you decided to start your own business later down the line.
Because of the association with the brand, it can look good on your resume going forward if you have worked for a big company. It can make your resume stand out if they see something like Facebook on there. So as long as you’re applying for relevant roles, it could be the thing that gets you the interview.
Cons
In an established business, there is likely to be less responsibility than if you worked for a smaller company. You might have a few different tasks as part of your role in a smaller business, whereas a larger company can afford to pay all sorts of different people to do the various roles. So you could have less responsibility to take on in a larger company. If you are wanting to improve, progress, and learn, then this isn’t going to be a good thing for your career.
In a similar vein, you are unlikely to work directly with a leadership team if the company is huge. So it can be hard to learn directly from them as you’ll hardly ever see them. Smaller companies will be more closely-knit, so you’re likely to work alongside the leadership team from time to time, which can be a good thing to help your business acumen.
The bottom line comes down to the fact that some things are more important than a name. While it can open doors for you and give people instant brand recognition, it will depend on what you want to do in your career, and how hard you’re willing to work.
