The Pros and Cons of Accepting a Job at a Startup

When you consider joining a startup, are you dreaming of a big payoff when the company goes public? Or are you bored with the daily grind of your “same work, different day” corporate position and want a challenge? Whatever your reasons, consider this: if you accept a job at a startup, you’ll never know what to expect, and your plans will not turn out as anticipated. This can be a positive thing, or a negative.

What are the two perspectives?

On the plus side:

1. You’re going to gain a ton of hands-on, multifunctional experience. At most startups, you’ll have to wear many hats and often perform duties that aren’t among your “normal” responsibilities. This can be great for your long-term career development and future marketability.
2. You’ll expand your professional network through multiple new friends and colleagues. At a startup, you’ll probably be seeking new customers, vendors and strategic partners fairly constantly. You’ll continually meet new people and build business contacts that may last you throughout your career.
3. You’ll feel a strong sense of responsibility and accomplishment.  If the startup becomes successful, you’ll have the experience of seeing your long hours, hard work and smaller paycheck come to fruition – in a much more direct way than you’d get at a large company.
4. You may actually get that gigantic financial return.  If the startup becomes successful, your salary, bonuses, profit sharing and other financial incentives may skyrocket beyond what you’d ever earn at your current corporate job.

On the minus side:

1. That hands-on, multifunctional experience will probably come about because you won’t have a well-defined job description. You also may not have a clear career path. This can be very frustrating for some people.
2. You may gain a great network, but you probably won’t have all the bells and whistles. Because most startups have to pour their money and time into finding new clients, vendors, etc., there probably won’t be a lot of money for the latest office equipment, technology, other gadgets or even support staff to cleaning supplies.
3. The responsibility and accomplishment come with a price. At a startup, you most likely won’t be working 9 to 5. Long hours and weekends are the norm, and you won’t get paid overtime. And your salary will probably be smaller to begin with.
4. You may find yourself out of a job, not retiring early. Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of start-ups will not survive long past their first year. If the revenue and/or funding are not in place, the whole enterprise will collapse.

Are you up for the risks and possible rewards? Come and talk to the recruiting team at Triumph if you’re ready to take the leap and work for one of our client startups, or if you’d prefer a more stable job with an established company.