Work Smarter – Not Harder

3 Reasons Startups Are the Best For Career Development

Want to grow your career in fast changing and dynamic environment? Join startups and expand career development.

At a time when recent college graduates are looking at roughly 8.5 percent unemployment and 16.8 percent underemployment, applying to a startup job might be you’re best bet. Luckily, working at a startup also provides you with amazing opportunities for personal growth and professional development. Don’t believe? Here are three reasons why startups are the best career development bootcamp.

1. You’ll try on many hats

Most of the time, working for a large corporate organization means you have a highly specified group of tasks to complete each day. It’s stable, but it can also be monotonous.

Startups are fast-paced. And they don’t have the luxury of paying each person to do one thing. Instead, employees are often expected to dig in whenever and wherever needed.

Carly Maloney, Associate Product Manager at WeWork, explains:

“One of the most exciting aspects of being part of a startup is the potential to be involved in so many different areas at once. Wearing multiple hats is highly encouraged, as there is never a shortage of things to be done.”

2. It’s ideal for expanding your network

Often times, when joining a smaller team, you won’t be hired along with your peers (unlike big corporate). So you’ll meet a whole new group of interesting and diverse people. And given that startups can feel turbulent, often times you become close to your comrades. It’s an “all hands on deck” sort of attitude. These are the people you’ll leave to work with again, and maybe even start companies with in the future.

3. There will be loads of responsibilities

There are less people per job function. If you do a great job, you’re more likely to own an entire department. Liz Vollman, Marketing Director at General Assembly, says it best:

“There is never a shortage of work to be done at a young, fast­growing startup, so many opportunities arise for employees to raise their hand and take on solving one of the business’s many challenges. It’s through raising a hand and solving challenges that one quickly develops a versatile skillset. Whether it’s managing an A/B test on a product, executing a new marketing tactic, improving an operational inefficiency, or training a team on a new process, before you know it, you’ve helped drive meaningful change and learned a lot along the way.”

Your job function won’t operate in a silo. Just because you run marketing does not mean that you cannot share ideas on how to improve the product or service. In fact, your opinions and suggestions are usually encouraged. Maloney agrees:

“We are encouraged to speak up about our ideas and be open if we don’t necessarily agree with a direction we are headed with a product or service. Pushing forward in all areas is crucial to my startup survival. I come to work everyday and feel motivated and empowered by this thriving workplace. Knowing I can make an impact in our fast growing, but still relatively small company, motivates me to be involved and come to work ready to contribute in anyway I can.”

While the benefits are clear, there are also risks: you will have to pull your own weight right out of the gate, or else you’re likely to be looking for your next opportunity.

Business Management Startup


Also Interesting

Work and Life Balance: No Holidays for Entrepreneurs?

Work and life balance is one of the hardest issues small business owners face. Find out how to keep entrepreneurial lifestyle and make sure you’ll take some days off. Small business owners can’t be good at everything, but many are particularly bad at taking time off.

Articles Business Management

Empower Your Project! Powerful Project Management with Storytelling

Once upon a time, humans evolved – and with them the art of storytelling. Stories have a unique power: They fascinate, they educate, they scare and they dare. A good story will make you laugh or bring you to tears.

Projects Tax

Team Time Tracking 4.0: Simple, Secure & Smart

Team Time Tracking made easy: Track your hours on-the-go, assign them to projects, clients or tasks and turn them into invoices in a second. Sounds too good to be true? Try it!

Features Mobile App Small Business Time Tracking

6 Big Mistakes Small Businesses Make in Ecommerce

Mistake small businesses make in e-commerce can vary. There are those which are usually very common for each type of e-commerce business – check out which? Whether you run a brick-and-mortar location or operate exclusively online, eCommerce can help your small business expand your customer base, increase visibility, and boost profits.

Articles Business Management

Online Invoice Generator – Way To A Successful Small Business

7 Ways An Online Invoice Generator Can Bootstrap Your Way To A Successful Business Whether you’re a small business, an operating freelancer or an aspiring startup owner, you’ll know that sometimes the best progress you can make is simply starting.

Freelancer Invoice & Estimate Invoices Small Business

The Lean Startup Method: 4 Lean Strategies For Your Small Business

Do you really need a business plan? No, you don’t. At least according the Lean Startup method developed by Eric Ries. But beware - that’s only half the truth! Learn more about minimum viable products, agile development and customer-focused evolution - and how to adapt the Lean Startup method to your own small business – even if you’re way past starting out.

Business Business Management Freelancer Small Business The Future of Work

One tool, everything under control

No credit card required. Cancel anytime.