What is it like to work for a huge hi-tech company?

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Our Candidate Tips series answers frequently asked questions on our social channels. Today we’re answering the question of what it’s like to work at a large, international company. What are the benefits and the drawbacks?

Working at a company the size of SAP can be a shock at first, especially for people who are coming from a small company or start up. In a small office, you know what everyone does and who can answer your questions. At a large company, it can take longer to figure things out and to make decisions, because you have to learn who everyone is, and who the decision makers are. Plus, working at a global company means that you’re talking to people in different time zones, so the ultimate decision maker could be out of the office when you’re working, and unable to address your question until the following day. But once you get past those hurdles, there are a lot of benefits to working at a large company.

First, a large company is good to have on a resume. The power of SAP in name alone proves that you can work at a company of that magnitude. When looking at two candidates, if one is from a company like SAP, and one is from a small company, recruiters will choose the candidate from a large company every time.

Second, once you’re at a large company, opportunities abound to learn and further your career. Working at a small company gives you the opportunity to wear many hats and learn a little about a lot, but working at a large company gives you the opportunity to perfect a specialty and to dig deep into areas of interest. Just think about how many experts are around you every day, and think about how many of those people are hiring managers who could bring you onto their team. While there is a benefit to being a “jack-of-all-trades,” unfortunately that often means that you are a master of none of those trades. Developing a specialty proves that you can accomplish something, and that is always attractive to a recruiter. And while dealing with people in different time zones can take some getting used to, it also offers the opportunity to meet and work with people from all over the world, and that’s pretty exciting.

 Finally, large companies offer opportunities beyond work. SAP offers unparalleled health benefits including maternity and paternity leave, but also unusual benefits such as time flexibility, fitness classes at work, and paid leave for charitable work. SAP understands that there is more to life than work, and  supports and encourages employees to be who they are and what they want. That’s a hard thing to find at a small company or even other large ones.

So when deciding whether to work at a small or large company, you can almost never go wrong in thinking big.

 

Special thanks to recruiter Maxx Snow for letting me ask him a ton of questions!