If you want a startup job for the money and easy work hours, then you are probably not cut out for the job you are looking at right now. Startups are way more than their boho glamor and beanbag strewn offices. However, if you want to join a startup in place of a multi-national corporation, you will need to know a few things.
- Jack of all trades, master of all
Startups are here to change the way we look at entrepreneurship. Before joining a startup you must know that startups usually have small work forces and this means, sometimes people have to moonlight. Therefore, if you join as a marketing head do not be too surprised if you have to check copies one night for an emergency pitch next morning.
This means, if you are joining a startup for your first job, you will gain invaluable field experience that a comfy MNC can never provide. You will leave the company with many feathers in your hat and multiple special skills.
- A fresh splash of culture
Most of the times startups come across as doohickeysthat are no good for building a professional resume. Unless you take a plunge into the world of startups, you will never know the liberty and trust they bestow upon their employees. Startups have smaller teams that are closer knit. You will get more time and energy to focus on the work. Dressing and accessorizing takes a backseat with work-inspired environments. Startups work culture is more relaxed, comfortable and not as stiff as compared to bigger corporations and companies. As a fresher, you will find it much easier to exchange ideas with your seniors and co-workers. The communication is much transparent. You can easily reach out to the higher authorities without the meaningless formalities.
- Building you own network
This is something that a corporate job can almost never give you. In a larger corporation, you will be as good as invisible. This automatically means, you cannot get in direct touch with the company policy influencers and the clients.
Au contraire, in a startup, you will have the chance to work beside the founders and innovators. As a result, you will be learning the tricks of the trade and create your own network in the industry.
In distant future, if you decide to run your own company you can leverage your experience as well as your contacts from your startup days to give your own business a boost. Besides, working in a startup automatically opens new doors for newbies. It is a very well connected world where everyone has a penchant for fresh talent. If you perform well in your first job, highly likely a headhunter will notice you and offer you a better position with a competitor.
- You will work directly with the brains of the industry
Working at a small place has its own advantages. One of the prime ones include being able to work with the who’s who of the industry within a very short period of time. Although people have the impression that a startup is another name for endless work hours and chaos. In reality, they are the nexus of creative thinking and entrepreneurial talent. Most startup founders are within the age of 35 and as a fresher, it will be a deciding point of your life when you will get a chance to stand beside them on the same platform. Working in a small agency always gives you the benefit of learning from the best masters. You will gain the ability to find new avenues to solve a problem. Every startup that has found a way to survive is made up of true innovators who can teach you how to forge your own path.
- Becoming your own master
With the topic of forging your own path, we come to the possibility of your own business venture that might happen sometime in the future. As we have mentioned before, every successful business has true innovators behind them. Now, true innovators are not a different species and they are not divine miracles that happen by chance. A good innovator is someone who has patience and the aptitude for learning skills necessary for business. There is no better way to prepare business tools than sharpening them on the field. If you harbor the dream to be your own master, you should take up the first opportunity you get to join a startup.
- Lenient location options
There are quite a few startups that allow their employees to work from home. This does not mean, you will not learn teamwork or you will not get the guidance of the seniors. It simply means most of the time you will be on Skype or some other platform for staying in touch. This is a great opportunity for new mothers and students, who cannot invest as much time in traveling. Work is more about dedication and time, if you can give more time and energy while you work from home, which will be more than appreciated at most new-age startups.
This is something that is quite unthinkable at large corporations. Sometimes, over a hundred employees work in a department and coordinating a project online would be nothing less than impossible. “Work from home” vacations are not unheard of in the world of MNCs. However, in most cases these are conditional and are limited to a few days per employee.
Startups are quite refreshing in the world of ties and briefcases. Some startups have compulsory off-days that allow employees to spend time with their friends and families. These smaller organizations come from the best innovators and as a result, their methods of working are much more efficient. Sometimes people think twice before giving up a corporate job offer for a startup, but that is an indecision governed by insecurity, uncertainty and lack of vision – none of which have any place in the world of startups.
