This is my question on Zhihu. How to choose between big companies and startups? The answer of

I have been working in Beijing for six years as a front-end engineer. Having worked at 3 startups (under 50 people, series A, up to A year, up to A week) and 3 big companies (up to A year, up to three years), I think I’m qualified to answer this question. I find that there are many college students among my followers and the followers of this column. I hope this answer can bring some help to your future employment

Conclusion: If you’re just starting out or if you’re at an entry-level level like me, try to go to a big company if you can. I’m sorry I can’t give you advice right now

First, debunk some myths about working at a startup:

  • Develop your skills: Startups are often fast growing and require quick start and iterative development, so your skills can improve dramatically in a relatively short period of time. But then what? Because startups focus on one area, you’ll find that you can do very little work for a fairly regular period of time, and they won’t risk you using new technology, which can be detrimental to your growth. My personal reality is that at my last startup I had five people working on one project, and now I’m working on five projects. After all, project experience is still very important, whether it is on the resume or for personal training
  • Overtime issues: In my own experience and that of friends in my circle (again, just me and friends in my circle), large companies don’t work much overtime (relatively; There are still overtime hours). In some big companies, overtime is required, because it involves overtime pay and compensation for time off and taxi rides. But in small companies, if you make an inappropriate joke, you need to apply if you don’t want to work overtime. In fact, the essence of overtime for me is whether I have time to improve myself. The industry of programmer needs continuous learning. Most of the daily work is repetitive, and frequent overtime without spare time means you can’t improve yourself
  • Options and Getting Rich: There are plenty of good answers to the question of what options are and whether you can get rich overnight by joining a startup. You’re probably wondering what if? So please think back to the “hundred regiment war”, “O2O”, “shared bike” and other wind so many companies, if you go back to that time can you judge who can survive and who can go public? These are games of capital. I advise you to keep your feet on the ground and take the opportunity in your own hands

Other reasons not to start a startup

  • Halo and endorsement: There’s no denying the fact that you’ll be offered more opportunities to jump ship if the last company on your resume was a well-known one. On the other hand, most large companies have job ranks. For example, The technical sequence of Baidu is T sequence, and the technical sequence of Ali is P sequence. The higher the sequence number is, the higher the rank is. The higher your rank, the higher your ability and salary. Maybe you think your ability is strong enough to not lose to BAT employees, or you heard that there is a black screen in the title evaluation of big companies, but you still have to understand and forgive most people in the world headhunters and HR screening resumes, or the people who interview you, are still based on the background and level of major companies. This is also related to your future promotion and salary at the new company
  • The risk issue: Countless startups rise and fall during each upturn, which can be brutal. You don’t want to be out of a job, so how do you pick a startup that won’t fail? It is very difficult. There are a lot of people who go from one startup that falls in one storm to another startup that falls in another storm, and then it disappears again.
  • Upside: Startups have fewer people and tend to have flat management, so you can be CTO and CEO above you. So where’s your room for advancement? Lead a team? Maybe you’re on a front end team of three people, and all three of you do the same kind of work and it’s hard to stand out. There’s no chance you’ll transfer even if you don’t like it
  • Professionalism: Relationships in large companies are professional (cold). Work is work, work is work. I will contact you only if there is a problem with you on call. If you don’t turn in your weekly report, or your project is late, or there’s an online glitch, you’re punished, you’re notified by email, you’re docked from your year-end bonus, there’s a system in place to keep you in check. However, in a startup company, it is usually ruled by people. Everyone goes to work and off work in the wechat group. After work, they continue to talk about their work. When I was at my last startup the CTO would go around in the middle of the night and ask if they had submitted the code; Not all startups have the same problem. If you join a great startup, congratulations. Unfortunately, I was never that lucky

Of course, big companies also have problems, such as looking for someone to carry the blame more than repair problems, doing things to speak of interests, digging more than filling holes, PK more than doing things. The work you do at a big company may be very narrow and manual, but the problem is that they can give you the space and time to do the things that make you better. When I go to work, I incarnate myself as a screw and do my job well.

In fact, most of the pain points mentioned above are from the perspective of personal improvement. In fact, whether it’s a big company or a startup, my personal rule is to always be ready for the next job, no matter how good your current job is or how easy it is. Think about how you can improve in your current job. Think about how much value you have to offer when adding experience to your resume at your current job

Welcome to pay attention to my zhihu front column