What’s Your Pond Size?

We spend more than 8 hours of our day working to earn a paycheck. Some of us are lucky enough to love the work we do, but most of us are happy to get that bi-weekly direct deposit so that we can meet our basic needs, take that vacation, buy the next paint by numbers painting, or save for the future. Either we work to live or live to work. At, least I fall in the former camp.

My first job was in high school. I was a Kumon instructor for the youngest age group at the center. Three hours, minimum wage. I was happy. As part of my work-study program in undergrad I worked most of my four years in college. I started off as the front desk attendant at my dorm handing out toilet paper or mail and then was lucky enough to master the art of shredding, filing, and filling out grad student timesheets in the math department. I was paid above minimum wage, set my own hours, and completed my homework assignments on the side. True dream job.

After some initial recruiting struggles after undergrad I was lucky enough to land a job in Corporate Finance at a top Fortune 500 company. Thus began my journey of working in Corporate America. My path looks something like this:

Corporate Finance (large CPG company) –> Corporate Finance (large Financial services company) –> Marketing (large Pharmaceutical/CPG company) –> Marketing (large logistics company) –> Marketing (small agriculture/CPG company)

Besides noticing that I have switched careers and jobs every so often the biggest change happened last year when I left Corporate America and joined a smaller family owned company. I needed a break from Corp America – from constantly comparing myself to my peers, the larger workforce, having to show my dedication and engagement through holding leadership positions in various business resource groups or exhaustively networking to show interest in a potential team — I can go on. All of this had left me feeling exhausted and lacking confidence. I was tired of “being on” all the time. I wanted to focus on myself again and stop worrying about others. I did not have to switch jobs to achieve this but with my personal life forcing my hand, I decided to switch things up.

Joining a smaller company has been eye opening. Even though the company has been around for about 80 years, the differences between large corporations and smaller companies were quite apparent.

So here are a few of my learnings from working in Corp America vs a smaller family owned company:

1. Scope of your role will vary. Larger companies have more people resources and teams to manage the workload so roles are narrow in scope. You have a well defined lane to drive on. At a smaller company. teams are much leaner and you can easily veer off course in your job. You not only have to do your job but also pitch in wherever there is a need. This is helpful in getting a boarder understanding of the company and owning the end to end process but this can lead to spreading yourself thin.
2. What process? Larger companies have to have processes in place including training their new employees to keep the machine rolling. Again a lack of resources and need means you have to create your own processes and bring discipline to your job at smaller companies. When you have a small team it’s much easier to get something done through informal methods or get into the bad habit of not documenting your work because the need isn’t there. But when the team grows and external team members are hired, not having strong processes can lead to a slower learning curve and haphazard execution.
3. What training? I feel like a broken record when I say this again but larger companies have more resources and have been forced through employee feedback to provide adequate training to new employees. Whether this is through an official on-boarding process or documentation, peer training or mentorship programs there are multiple ways to get up to speed. At a smaller company not so much. Leaner teams and quite frankly a perceived lack of need (or desire) means you have to train yourself. Keep asking questions. My sample set is only one but anecdotally I’ve heard the same from others.
4. Climbing that career ladder. My career path was well defined in Corporate America. You start off on the lowest rung as an analyst and work your way up to a Manager, Sr. Manager, Director and so on. Put in the time (and work obviously) and you shall be rewarded. Slow and steady wins the race. Not so much at a smaller place. The ladder is much shorter and more bendy so you have to define the path yourself. I’m still figuring this out myself but there seems to be more appetite for cross-functional moves. But at all workplace sizes you have to HAVE TO advocate for yourself.
5. Ready set make that decision. Larger companies are more hierarchical and decisions have to be approved by multiple layers before action can be taken. This slows things down considerably. The positive of having leaner teams at smaller companies is that decision making power filters to even the most junior member of the team. This makes employees feel empowered and more in control. I’m not saying hierarchy and politics doesn’t exist but I’ve at least felt the impact of my work more directly than in my previous workplaces.

Millennials are known to switch jobs more often and as a result are bound to work for various sized companies. I fit this mold perfectly. While I have not been mindful of the employer or roles I’ve chosen, I know being more thoughtful about these factors will only help me enjoy the 8 plus hours I spend at work.

One thing is for sure: I definitely fall in the work to live camp.

P.S. I’m using the terms larger company and smaller company fairly loosely. Think of larger as companies that fall in the Fortune 500 bucket list where knowing all the employees at the company is impossible. Smaller companies are ones where you know everyone in your function and most others.