By Alannah Jones
When it comes to choosing where to enter the working world after university, big corporates such as Deloitte, Google and PwC continue to have a strong presence in the top 100 graduate employers. However, an increasing number of fresh young graduates are turning to working for start-up companies instead.
A survey carried out last year found that more students wanted to work for small, young companies after graduation than larger employers. Here are five reasons why you should consider joining them and working for a start-up as your first job after university.
The company culture will be completely different
Company culture is an extremely important element of your working life, but it’s something which is often overlooked while job hunting. The culture is established by the personality of a company, and it can have a massive impact on your job satisfaction.
Luckily, this is one area in which small early-stage start-ups excel. A start-up company’s culture is much more likely to be fresh and vibrant than larger companies, which can sometimes be stale or even inhospitable.
It can be even more of an advantage if you’re among the first few employees to join the company, since you’ll have the chance to develop close relationships with your colleagues and shape the company culture from the outset.
Career progression can be rapid as the company grows
A successful start-up business is likely to grow exponentially within the first couple of years, which is very good for career progression.
As a company grows, more and more roles will be created at higher levels as more management is needed. If you’ve been with a start-up since an early stage, you’re in an excellent position to fill one of these roles and scramble up the career ladder much faster than any of your friends working for huge faceless conglomerates.
A role offering variation and flexibility
If you come on board early in the game at a start-up, you can expect to wear many hats as your role is likely to encompass several different elements that would have their own dedicated departments in a larger business.
For instance, a role in marketing at a start-up would likely involve researching, strategizing, copy-writing, content creation, with market analysis thrown into the mix too. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. It demands versatility but allows you to sample different elements of an industry and gain a more varied set experience and skills, which sets you up really well to narrow your field of specialty further down the path.
If the company succeeds, you’ll gain plenty of recognition
The nature of a start-up company means there is a risk-factor involved, as the company may fail to garner enough seed-funding in order to stay afloat. The result of this is that all the employees have a higher level of responsibility and accountability.
Forbes claims that 90 percent of start-ups fail – though this claim has been disputed. Either way there is a substantial risk to your job security if you do opt to work for a start-up.
On the other hand, despite the pressure, there’s an immense amount of recognition and satisfaction to be gained from working for a successful start-up.
Your work space is likely to be exciting and modern
Start-up companies are often based out of co-working spaces rather than having offices of their own. This makes for a more relaxed office vibe as well as being really sociable, as you can interact with the founders and employees of other start-ups – many of these workspaces even have parties with free food and booze every couple of weeks.
Plus, lots of co-working spaces are extremely groovy, with super swanky interior design. This is a much nicer environment than your standard dull office. Your boss isn't sequestered off in a distant office somewhere; they're right next to you.
Working alongside other start-ups in this way is also a great way do a lot of networking – which is great for you to make contacts in your desired industry. Who knows? Maybe you'll end up founding your very own start-up.
Alannah Jones writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in finding candidates their perfect internship. To browse our graduate jobs, visit our website.
