Taking a job for a startup company can be a big risk. They are not well established so there is always the fear that they will go bust and you will have to start looking for another job. The pay is not always fantastic, and the workload can be heavy. However, there are a lot of great reasons to work for a startup too. Here are five of them.
You Learn a Lot
There is a lot to be learned in a startup. There is not likely to be a lot of staff so you will find yourself being a jack-of-all-trades. You may have been hired to do the company marketing but if the internet goes down and there is no IT department, you may have to learn how to fix it yourself. You will have the opportunity to pick up a lot of new skills that you wouldn’t get in a bigger, more established company. If you have entrepreneurial aspirations, then learning how a new company survives and thrives is a great experience for when you decide to go it alone.
You Can Take Responsibility
In large companies, you often find yourself trying to cut through a lot of red tape before you can get anything done and this can be frustrating. If you work for a startup, you will not have a long chain of command, and this means that you will have more responsibility than you might have done in a bigger company. You may be the only person working in your department so the buck will stop with you. This is a great place to be if you enjoy a challenge and prefer working under your own steam.
Good Promotion Prospects
Your promotion prospects will be good if the company expands. You will have got in on the ground floor, so you will be in a great position to apply for a supervisor or management position as your department grows. Your name and reputation will be well-known to those in charge of hiring, so you won’t be just another name on an application form. There will be less competition for these roles than you might find in a bigger company where more people will have experience.
You Can Be Innovative
Your ideas are more likely to be taken seriously at a startup as processes are just being put into place. You will be given credit for those ideas, and you can really put your mark on the company rather than being swallowed up by the sheer size of the corporation. The ideas that are implemented can give you a great sense of job satisfaction which makes going to work more enjoyable.
Company Benefits
Although a startup may not be able to pay you as much as a more established company might, they make up for it in company perks. You are likely to find a great commercial coffee machine, a casual dress code, and flexible working hours. Startups have a reputation for being less stuffy and formal than a huge corporate giant and this is displayed in the company culture and the atmosphere at work. If you are the sort of person who likes to keep things casual, a startup could be the right environment for you.
These are five great reasons to work for a startup company. It can be a fantastic learning experience as well as being a great place to work, although the hours may be long, and the pay may be lower than elsewhere. Try it for yourself and see how much the experience benefits you.