Which one is better workplace in your opinion ?

I work at this big company which is already establish quite long time. When you work in big company your opinion is unlikely to be taken. Everything already been set up. You done your work 8-5 and can go home. You will get your salary end of month and enjoy all the benefits, that's all. No excitement and enjoyment. I don't think your big boss will recognize you when meet outside office.

My friend work at this new company which only been set up at 2008. All the workers really work together as a team and his boss will listen to any opinion and take if it's a good one. Not much boundaries between boss and workers. Recently his company won a big tender project and his boss reward them 5 days trip to Thailand. They all go together and enjoy after all the hardwork

What do you think ?

This post has been edited by Sifha238: Feb 21 2010, 01:13 AM

You got a point in big companies . You work for a boss who doesn't recognize you after work outside. You just sit there and do your stuff as if you're in school.But smaller companies, your job isn't that secure. That company is still small and is funding .You'll also need to count factors like salaries , allowances and etc.

tough to get recognized for ur effort in big comp.
hr appraisals are usually a joke

small comp easy to get recog but then again may not able to reward back (so soon)

Working in big companies = Boring. But high pay and more 'prestigious'.
Working in small companies = Challenging. But lower pay and not as secure.

I think it depends on the learning curve. Generally small company is quite good for overall learning experience bcos less bureaucracy and line of responsibility. However there are some large firms that tailored to grind out individuals with steep learning curve (big4, consulting firms, IB,.....etc). Certain MNC's like GE.

nah, i dun think so. working in big company is not challenging? u must b joking! even getting in is alot harder... lmao

getting in is hard, no doubt. but that's pretty much where the challenge ends. no joking. when i was in my ex-company (MNC), i can honestly tell you my fave experience was the interview - the challenging type which does not only stop at face-to-face, but went on to IQ assessment tests, personality tests, boardroom discussion, case study presentations, meeting with seniors, etc etc.

once i got in... damn, boring. they make the interview so tough and give me a high pay just so to do an assistant's work. gimme more important and significant tasks lar... damn what a waste of company's resources (time, money, and effort in recruitment).

This post has been edited by ace.princess: Feb 20 2010, 04:09 PM

Working in big Company can be challenging as well.. think positve ^ ^

People who can't cut it in big/small companies will always find excuses to justify working in small/big companies instead. It's a roundabout argument with no possibility of consensus.


Big companies not challenging... maybe simply being good enough to differentiate yourself from your peers was part of the challenge, eh?

Like many said in your previous thread about this topic,.. the interview process is not perfect. MNCs often do hire freshies, only to find that they were not of the standard that their earlier interviews suggested. So perhaps the hiring managers simply found that their initial assessment of you was flawed, and did not have the confidence to subsequently hand you important and significant tasks. And therefore, they relegated you to routine and boring tasks, hoping that either you leave or you settle down to become one of the many but necessary 9-5 office drones and clones that do the mundane work. After all, not everybody are cut out to be stars.

i work with small company now, you can learn alot of thing in small company but work like hell, then reward also consider not good as big company. if you want better reward, then should go big company, if want learn more thing, go small company la. For young people, work in small company first then move to big one. i work in my company 1 year liao, now i get better offer from MAYBANK and Hong leong. There are not easy to work in smal company, i start everything in 0, no customer base. first month my sales figure is 2k, now achieve 30 to 40 k within a month. For me, no matter where you are going, confident is most important. I dont have choice to work in big company last time but now i already get better offer in big company and ready for it on next month

ok, if u can sell 50 units of wira at 50k, u can definitely sell 100 merc at 50k... cmmon, small co dun hav d edge against d big players.

but if ur talking abt engineering, i against starting in a small co then jump 2 biggie.. it just wont work

There is a general concensus that big companies aren't as challenging and stimulating as small companies. I think that opinion is widely accepted within this forum and even outside. That's because in big companies, roles are more specific, while in smaller companies, people get to touch more scope in what they do.

I don't think people are trying to find excuses. It's not always the employee's fault when work isn't progressing. Sometimes employer just simply has poor planning in utilizing their work force. Especially even more so in MNCs, where job scope is specific, even managers are handling smaller tasks compared to a manager in small companies. And sometimes they probably already have excess staffs and recruiting just to meet headcounts. Everyone knows MNC has their own set of problems. Just as how employees are human, so why can't employers make mistakes too? You seem to keep putting the blame on employees without looking through the situation, who are you to judge if people are making up excuses anyway?

And my observation about freshies being given tough challenging interviews (which they enjoyed) and high pay, but getting insignificant work, is not just from me, but from many others. Can you say we are all incapable and our respective HRs have developed a flawed perception of us during interviews? Wow, then our HR in these huge companies are all doing a damn good job.

In fact, how can people who are passionate, self-starter, willing to learn and take initiative, thrive for challenge etc etc be a bad employee? Aren't these what all companies are looking for?

Your argument is flawed.

This post has been edited by ace.princess: Feb 21 2010, 02:09 PM

It comes down to whether your happy being a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond/ocean whatever. In my experience, the learning curve for medium sized/smaller firms are much steeper but they reach a stagnant point much sooner. Having come from a medium sized firm i have learnt so much in the past 2 years that in the same time my friends in bigger firms have basically been doing what i did 1 year ago. And its true that i know all my collegues, seniors, manager and partners by name and vice versa, which promotes a friendly working environment and a overall much nicer atmosphere to work in, but there are still office politics in any firm.

Now im at a point where i feel im not learning as much as i could in a bigger firm with a broader range of clients from varying sizes and industries. Also in medium sized firms you are given much more responsibility and you have to hit the ground running as they recruit based on what they need at that given point in time as opposed to bigger firms who rather recruit every 6 months and would have excess staff depending on the 'peak seasons'. Having a bigger firm on your CV so much better.

IMO i think as a graduate you should go for experience and learning curves as opposed to making decisions based on salary, join a smaller/medium sized firm till you are at a point where you can say i think i have learnt all i can and move on from there, another reason for this is that you get to experience all departments of a firm as you will end up working for/covering people from other depts.

All above is written from a viewpoint of accountancy/audit firms in the UK, might not apply for other firms/country

That's not true. As long as there are people who don't agree, there is no consensus. And from the majority of responses to your earlier thread, I think the majority of the opinions are the opposite of your assertion.


I never said employers don't make mistakes. But all your posts when it comes to this topic lay the blame squarely on the big companies. Never the employee. I'm merely providing a counterpoint to your posts. In my experience, there are many more bad employees than there are bad employers.


Experience and the simple balance of probabilities. The big company employer cannot be at fault all the time.


Not all of you are incapable... but many of you can talk a good deal but it's only after the interview that we find that the brain and the attitude doesn't match the mouth. It's just a pity companies have to hire based on interviews... but then again, that's what probation periods are for. Otherwise there's the "winter palace" treatment which is exactly what you experienced.


The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. A lot of freshies are not as smart or as capable as they somehow (mistakenly) think they are.


Judging by your career and some of the others in this thread and your previous thread... I don't think so. Not by a country mile.

Regarding small vs large firms, I beg to offer an opinion regarding some common misconception.
Certain people will say its better to enter small firm first then a big firm later cos they know all the "ins" and "outs" and they can perform much better later on. Large firms will be considered a slow start cos lots of admin work in first few weeks, only do as assistant,...... etc. So many will use this reason if asked why they are not in the big firms at the beginning.

However, like one of the forumer correctly pointed out, this is just a statement to cover their illusion. Reason being :
1) No matter how many experience from small firms you gathered, you will still enter large firms as a freshie. Basicly means you have to start all over again. And most of the things learned will not be applicable anyway cos system are too different. I have met some colleagues that followed this route and most regretted their decision. Some that unable to tolerate to start all over again just continue with their firm or jump to commercial.

2) Exposure. S&M firms will not match large firms in term of this. Large firms are littered with MNC and PLC companies which S&M will hardly have any. So whatever learned no matter how great or useful it seems will not match the knowledge in large companies which earn billions. When you are in audit, its the system & processes of the client which is more important compared to the audit knowledge. Small companies audited will hardly have any of it as its just a mere regulatory requirment to audit.

3) There is a reason why large firms experience are preferred. Endurance. One needs to endure lots of work, tight deadlines, clients attitude,.....etc. I doubt s&m firms asked their staff to work on weekends or work past 1am regularly ?

The final nail to the point. I believe not every team in every dept in large firms will be entitled to the same treatment or exposure. Yes, even in large firms there are small team, average team, big team and super team. What most hear about admin work in 3 weeks, doing assistant job,......etc mainly applies to small or average teams. Big or super team will normally be required to do jobs beyond their scope and capability. Normally they are required to perform jobs way earlier than required time. It also depends on you luck on which team you joined.

Which is why most companies prefer staff with large firm experience. And a very common logic.
If somebody offered you a position in large firm with better salary and perks and training. Quite straightforward right.
Will someone reject such a move and joins a small firm instead. When I asked friends that joined S&M firms, their answer is simply bcos of : "I am not given that opportunity hence I join a small firm first" or "I am not that agressive or able to withstand the pressure". Cos when asked, all their first choice is large firms.

My advice is go for large firms first, if you cannot cut it then go for smaller ones. If you are not learning enough ask to be given more opportunity. If still no response join other large companies that gives such training. Going to small firms then big is not recommended in my opinion cos a lot of people that tried this route before told me not to.

Disclaimer : This is just a general statement. In life everything or anything can happen. Look at Gates & Trumps.

TS,

No matter big or small company, if you can come up with brilliant idea that could save million of dollars to the company, do you think the company wouldn't listen to you? And on what basis you do judge that process flow in MNCs are stagnant, rigid and to some extent outdated? Ever heard of evolution, continuous improvement, kaizen and the other craps? No, big or small, if you are average, you are average and vice versa. No company can shape your attitude and personality...

since i was studying, my mum has already told me to work in a bigger company. but, i did not listen, started out with a small company, which exploited me somehow and make me demotivated, and also alienated me from the world....now working in a more medium size company, and i really can see the difference....

i always though big is streessful , after work in smaller chinaman company (bao sua pao hai), i feel regret .

Care to elaborate

As a fresh graduate i joined a company and started of as one of their poineers in solution technical support. Being in that company i spend around 9 - 16 hours working depending on the projects. Well to be honest i've learned alot as there isn't anyone to assist me after all, mr Google had became a good friend of mine. I get the best exposure, gained the best experience in project implementation for some of the big names in our country and at the end of the day it is all about your own personal satisfaction only. Due to the fact smaller firms most of them focus on sales figure, the technical guys got neglected and all you get at the end of da day is just an appreciation "good job". After 2 1/2 years i got really frustrated, my salary isnt much differ from the 1st day i joined the company and despite cleaning up so much mess for the sales and being a fire fighter for unfinish projects, the company still has the head count constraint simply because there is not enough sales for more head counts(according to the mangement). But hey who will fall for that, all projects are 500k - 2/3m and my annual income is not even 50k.... wth.

It's true i've gain lotta respect from my other colleagues, made loads of friends. Having a really GREAT manager but not management. Most importantly the knowledge gain in return. I'm well verse in Servers, Backup Systems, Network Architecture, Software Solutions and a really great exposure to how technology could improve companies workflow and business processes. But the point of working is, to provide yourself a living and being responsible to the ones around you. Small firms can be great as a stepping stone to a greater future, but don't take such emotional feelings into work cause at the end of the day you should be looking for a better life for yourselves not for your company.

Now i'm in quite a big IT services company. Compared to my previous job role which i have to be able to implement and assist customer in maintaining 16 kind of different software solutions, NOW i'm handling only ONE system. I got an 110% increment in this company and i can see everyone here is having a pretty good time working. I might not have the chance to learnt as much compared to my previous company but hey, the most important thing is not about learning or appreciation. It is about providing yourselves with a better life.

P/S: You will learn no matter where you go, You will grow no matter where you are. The only question here is, Has your employers given you the reward which you deserve to? If the answer is no, consult your boss but if the answer is yes i'll recon you to continue what you are doing and only make a move when you find the opportunity.

Regards,
Joshua

i work in big company n small company before....
both oso stress....
but for me, big company is better cuz salary better and really can home on time.
while small company might still have politic, but really more work to do but the work to do might not gain any knowledge, just tat small company lack of people so 1 person really do more work......

Actually it really depends on the industry you're working in. Sometimes smaller companies has better perks in terms of pay and career progression.

Normally people will go for big one first. If cannot thrive or unwilling to work anymore then go small.

I am from IT and I am in dilemma, what if the small company pays ALOT better than the BIG company that I am going to join.

small company
- high status
- more responsibilities

big company
- senior programmer
- should have less responsibilities
- bonus

I agree.And if you ask HR from MNCs, most of them will tell you that they would prefer to hire candidates from MNC background rather than some SME.Besides that, opportunities for overseas posting is there compared to SMEs.While I do agree working in SMEs you learn a lot becos you pretty much have to do everything and anything in the company, the prospects of you burning out is also much higher.