hey folks,

Massassi is home to a bunch of vagrants that are spread across quite a few fields of expertise, so I think it's as good a place as any to ask opinions on types of companies.

Since I finished my PhD I've been slacking, but decided a couple of weeks ago I've had enough of a break and I better get a job.

I've had a few interviews, got good feedback from them all, got a few offers on the table with a few more interviews coming up, which will hopefully result in a few more offers.

When all the interviews are done in a week or so I'll hope to have options ranging from working for a $30 billion revenue oil and gas drilling company to a small (6-8 person) software development company.

What I'm wondering is the sort of working atmosphere I can expect to get within the different types of company? The feeling I get is that within the bigger companies, jobs and work get very departmentalised and focused on particular areas, where as in the smaller companies you tend to be spread across multiple roles with you playing a part on many different fronts.

I'm just curious on folks opinions on working for these different types of companies, the benefits and the drawbacks that exist for both. In the end I'll choose based on the atmosphere I expect to work in and how interested the job will keep me, I'm not toooooo bothered about pay as even in the "worst" case it's equal to or better than a post-doc position.

You have technical skills I take it? I mean, you worked at CERN no?

There are probably too many variables involved to do more than generalize. However, the "happiest" that I've ever been as far as work goes was when I worked for a small family-owned business. The pay was bad, the benefits weren't much better, the amount of hours was exhausting & I had to travel 75% of the time, but there was something "charming" about all of it. I wasn't treated like a "number" or "statistic" & my opinion was valued. The work was challenging because I was in a position to make it so. I was so content with what I was doing that I would spend most of my free time working as well. I left that job for a variety of reasons, most of which were external, but I have yet to feel that way about work since.

I've held approximately 12-15 different jobs in my life. Some of them were for months & some were for years. However, the vast majority of them were for large companies. With companies like these, it rarely felt rewarding, except for in the weight of my pocketbook. Not only was I treated like a number, I had one & I had to wear it on me at all times. I don't think that I could ever work for another large company again. The bureaucracy & red-tape involved in getting anything done is overwhelming. I was always powerless to resolve issues that I would've resolved at the small companies that I've worked for, with the snap of a finger. The competitiveness (e.g., ass-kissing) can be overwhelming if you're not an aggressive type.

I think that it honestly depends on your personality & goals. Only you know what type of person you are. I suspect that you're still relatively young so I'd encourage you to try it both ways. You'll likely change jobs several times in your life. For the vast majority of people, the days of finding "that one job" & sticking with it until they retire, are over & done with. Your last paragraph leads me to believe that you'd probably be more content with the "right" small business.

Ya, going for jobs that require a certain amount of physics knowledge with the ability to code and analyse data.

you know mentat, considering how at odds i am with on a lot of social issues, i end up agreeing with far too often

but, yes. mentat was pretty much spot on. ive worked for one of the largest corporations in the world, Walmart(actually sams club, but same deal.) and it is not what i would consider a rewarding job for ANYONE there. aside from the fact that it was walmart and is the worst place on earth i think there are a lot of common denominators(sp?) across any large corporation. most likely whatever you do in the company will be controlled and scrutinized by someone who has no idea what is going on.


i have also worked for a VERY small family owned business. before i was laid off at the beginning of the week there were only three of us that worked there. this job was hand down the best job i have ever held. as mentat mentioned it was not because of the pay, because it kind of sucked. but i actually looked forward to going to work each day at a job where i could see the diference i made there, and the owners were actually passionate about the company and our work, not just the bottom line.


so yeah, if a small company is actually a viable option i would lean toward that.

I'm afraid Mentat already said the gist of it. The company I've worked now has fluctuated from small to large(r) and I've experienced similar ups and downs. I'm afraid I have nothing really unique to contribute.

I used to do development work for a very tiny consulting company (ranged from 3 to 6 people during the time I was there), and while the job definitely had a lot of freedom, I was either being worked to death or had absolutely nothing to do depending on how business was any given month. Got tired of that after a few years, especially the lack of any real job security. I kind of also outgrew that company's ability to pay me competitively for my skillset. Left there for a bigger company (~250 employees, not huge, but a lot bigger than before). Our department's only 11 people though, and I have a lot of control over stuff that goes on in the business. I'm sure if I was one of the many accountants we have, I'd probably feel pretty unimportant because there are dozens of them, but my job has me interacting with the executives and the department heads on a frequent basis, and a lot of the stuff I write gets used by most of the company, so I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment with what I do.

I actually got a ridiculously high offer from the owner at my old consulting job a few months ago, but I didn't want to go back to that work so I turned it down.

It's definitely not as black and white as "small company = more responsibility" and "big company = little fish in big pond." It really depends on the kind of work you do.

cheers for the advice guys, given me a few things to think about for sure, also confirmed a few things I thought might be true.

the annoying thing, if you can call it that, is that I have one of the smaller, more "software-service" oriented companies, make me an offer but put a rather restrictive time limit on how long they will wait. I get the feeling they don't want me to go to the other job interviews that I mentioned to them.

it just seems so wrong to refuse a job offer at the moment, yet I don't want to jump into something without seeing what the others have to offer. In particular the more research focused companies that I'm at the 2nd (some 3rd) stage of the interview process, where I get to meet the other researchers and chat indepth about what they do, I still might not get offered a job, but damn some of the stuff they are doing is interesting and would be awesome to work on.

hhmm, stuff to ponder.

I work for a company that has 16 people, including the owner. We do point-of-sale systems for restaurants. We deal with hardware, software, and support. My job title is Systems Analyst, so I primarily deal with development/programming. However, I also do some help desk stuff (I'm on call this week at night - like right now). It's been a good chance to get involved in a bunch of different things very quickly - something that may not have happened in a bigger company. It's a very laid back atmosphere, as well, but there is a good bit more responsibility even for someone like me who has been there less than a year. I can't really speak for bigger companies - at least as far as professional settings go. The only big companies I've worked for have involved retail, which is very different than the professional side of things.

Ultimately, I think it's what you're looking to get out of it and are most interested in.

I worked for a smallish (<50 people) company, and while I might have had various tasks, I had seen all of the options within a few months.

Now I work for a large utility company that does lots of different work. There are groups for specific tasks, but we work together a lot and you get to have a taste of the other stuff. There are also many parts of the company that I've never been involved with that would be potential places to move in the future.

i work for Chase, so its VERY departmentalized. i got the tip from one of my college buddies so when i started i had at least 1 person i was comfortable with, that to me was the most important thing. As developers we tended to stick together anyways, but in a big place like that you have to like the people around you because after about 2 levels of management you're pretty much a statistic. The middle-management bull****, however, is the worst part of it; getting 'volunteered' for things and getting thrown under the bus is pretty common place. just gotta crack open another beer and hope the next day gets a little better.