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I've known several people who've found that moving department at a big company makes a massive difference to their overall experience (I've seen it go from bad

by stoney 16y ago

I've known several people who've found that moving department at a big company makes a massive difference to their overall experience (I've seen it go from bad to good and good to bad). Your coworkers and (possibly more importantly) your managers, are critical determining factors in how it all works out for you. Probably more so than whether you have a choice in technology, etc.

pfarrell 16y ago
Agreed on the importance of good management. Something I read recently, but resonated with me. People don't leave companies, they leave managers.
- tomkarlo 16y ago
  More precisely: people join companies, but leave managers. There are good and bad managers at both small and large companies. One advantage of going to a small company is that you're more likely to get to meet the exact manager you'll report to during the interview process. One disadvantage is that there is a much wider range of how good a manager they are, because they probably have fewer peers to compete with. Managers take a lot of flack, but to manage teams at a big company like Google or Amazon you probably have to be at least decent at what you're doing, whereas at a small startup you might just be the person who got there first. Years ago, I was hired to work at a small tech startup. After a few weeks, the CEO met with me and said it seemed to him that I didn't have a lot of respect for the opinion of my manager (who had never managed anyone in a tech company before, and never done any development themselves.) I told him straight out, no, I didn't respect their opinion - I didn't think they were qualified to be a manager. (Needless to say I didn't stay there very long.)
krschultz 16y ago
Teams vary pretty heavily too. I like the team of 12 in my large company, but a few other guys who started around the same time as me hate the people they work with. That makes a huge difference in your day. At a startup, there are 5-25 people and that's it. At a big company, groups and departments have their own cultures and job functions.

by stoney 16y ago

pfarrell 16y ago

Agreed on the importance of good management. Something I read recently, but resonated with me. People don't leave companies, they leave managers.

tomkarlo 16y ago
More precisely: people join companies, but leave managers. There are good and bad managers at both small and large companies. One advantage of going to a small company is that you're more likely to get to meet the exact manager you'll report to during the interview process. One disadvantage is that there is a much wider range of how good a manager they are, because they probably have fewer peers to compete with. Managers take a lot of flack, but to manage teams at a big company like Google or Amazon you probably have to be at least decent at what you're doing, whereas at a small startup you might just be the person who got there first. Years ago, I was hired to work at a small tech startup. After a few weeks, the CEO met with me and said it seemed to him that I didn't have a lot of respect for the opinion of my manager (who had never managed anyone in a tech company before, and never done any development themselves.) I told him straight out, no, I didn't respect their opinion - I didn't think they were qualified to be a manager. (Needless to say I didn't stay there very long.)

krschultz 16y ago

Teams vary pretty heavily too. I like the team of 12 in my large company, but a few other guys who started around the same time as me hate the people they work with. That makes a huge difference in your day. At a startup, there are 5-25 people and that's it. At a big company, groups and departments have their own cultures and job functions.