Should I work in a startup or a stable work environment?

Hi Anon,

I faced the same dilemma as you as I had 2 offers back then, one from a startup and one from an MNC. Like what you mentioned, the pay in start up is lesser but things are exciting there, you have a chance to build your work/team there from scratch, giving you a sense of achievement.

While for MNCs, things are relatively more stable, pay is better but work processes are largely fixed/there's a certain way to do things.

While startups seem to suit millenials alot, I ended up going with MNCs, not because they have a higher pay but because I wanted to learn the best practices in my role first from an established company before I feel ready to contribute to a startup.

Hi Anon,

There is no such thing as startup, stable and anything in between in today's age.

The truth is that learning curve exists in both startups and "stable job". There are too many factors to take into account, so let's simplify,

1. Mentor - if you had a great mentor at work, it does not matter whether it is a startup or it is a SME or a big MNC

2. Colleagues - if you have great colleagues, it matters. You have to wish they go places and you would expand your network. Again, it does not matter on the type of company. Some have better networks than others though.

3. Value - if you can create more value in a certain type of environment than others, better go where you can create that better value differential. It will matter the most in the long-run

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Pascal