Reasons to work for a small company if you’re in IT

Posted on March 5, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Ok, so if you’re in IT and you work for a small company, you need to fight your way into getting any kind of decent compensation. Small companies are cheap when it comes to paying out to their IT people, which is completely not cool especially if you’re the only man running the place!! But being at a small company has it’s perks:

1. You get to delve into any topic you are interested in (software, security, database, infrastructure) and there is probably going to be a lot of work to do in that area.

2. If you’re up for a challenge, then a small business is the place for you! Because there is absolutely nothing there to start with!!! You get to setup new servers, configure Active Directory, put in place a decent phone system, build out a redudant data system for your critical data, write all kinds of software to manage processes and workflow, etc, etc. But of course, this is assuming that you are ok with un-organized work places or work that is not handed to you, but instead you need to go figure out why people are spending 5 days to print invoices and mail them to the clients!

3. There is a lot less stress than working for a big company. In a small company, you don’t have to worry as much about deadlines and bosses haggling you…because you have to setup deadlines yourself and make sure you get the work done! If you’re a self-disciplined person, a small business is great in IT because once you produce results (no matter how small) people will start to think you are some kind of IT God. Which brings me to the next point…

4. If you work at a big company, you need to produce BIG results! That can be quite hard and stressful, considering you would have to work on a large team and coordinate with lots of people, which is defintely perfect for some people, but if you prefer to work in small teams and gets things done at your own pace, then work for a small company! Of course, you should not be lazy and sit around and do nothing all day, that’ll get your fired fairly quickly, but you can get things done in small steps that’ll make a big difference to a small company.

5. Also, once people know you and realize that you can get things done and do them well, it’ll be a lot easier to move up the ladder and become a manager or director. At a big company, you better be the best of the best if you want to even move up one or two levels. Big companies are good for some people, but not for everyone!

6. And lastly, you get to meet people, become friends, and continue seeing them for more than 6 to 12 months or however long a typical IT contract is for. Small businesses do have pretty high turnover, but usually not in the IT department, so if you’re working with some decent people, you’ll come to enjoy the small close-knit group you manage or work with.

I can’t think of anything else right now, I’m sure there are more! I’ll try and post reasons to work for a big company too though, since working for a small company is by no means the “right” way to go!

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