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That, given the chance, always choose a smaller company: having a direct contact with the person that pays your salary gives you a better shot in terms of professional growth
The downside is that in smaller companies, assholes have a bigger impact on you.
Agree, I've been lucky (and persistent) enough to end up in an asshole-less workplace.
As they say "job interviews are both sided" and the smaller the company is, the more relevant the person interviewing you is gonna be for that company: that's a good litmus test for what your potential workplace is going to be. I turned down many offers from people I had the feeling (or proof) they could be assholes.
Another downside with smaller companies is there not always room for you to grow or move up.
My situation. I was told unless someone retires there isn't really a way to go up. The only reason I'm sticking around is because I have gotten decentish raises and benefits like them paying for all my personal gas. That said, 2 of the old timers retired and they just cut those positions. If I don't get a bug raise or another position come my next year I'm gonna bounce.
A smaller company means smaller salary and bigger potential to have to fill in the cracks as management decides to not backfill.
I moved from a 10 person map to a hundreds of employees map/hosting provider and doubled my pay for minimal extra work. My team isn't much bigger than my previous team, but I don't have to work nearly as hard being a JOAT vs staying in my lane and passing off stuff that's out of my primary knowledge domain.
I had quite the opposite experience: my last job was for a big company (800+ employees) I had a shitton of work with the downside of being extremely repetitive and alienating, just a small cog inside a huge machine.
Now it's just me and my boss. Of course I'm a JOAT and I have more responsibilities, but that makes the work way less boring and I feel more appreciated for what I do every day. I earn a little more than before and I have the upside of having learned many new skills that make me a more valuable asset on the work market.
I'm aware that not all kinds of job allow you to do this, tho.