Re: Corporate World vs. Small Company: Considerations?

[Michelle Corbin <corbinm -at- us -dot- ibm -dot- com>]

Hello everyone.  I have had experience with leaving a corporate job for a 
job at a smaller company.  While I do not regret the decision to leave, I 
must say that I am back in that corporate world, and I'm one of those type 
of folk who enjoy the corporate world.  However, I didn't know that until 
I left and came back to it.

I left the corporate world because I was burnt out as a technical writer 
and desperately wanted a change -- to test my skills as a technical 
editor.  Because there were no positions to be had within the corporation, 
I just happened upon the job ad for a development editor, and on a lark I 
interviewed for it -- and got an offer.  I, too, was being offered less 
money, less benefits, but it was EXACTLY what I had been wanting to do.  I 
leaped.

I *loved* that job.  Even today, that is still my favorite job in my 
career.  After the first year, I had learned all the new things to learn, 
and I had honed my skills as a technical editor, and it started to become 
a "known entity."  I would have continued in that position, with little 
room for advancement (it was a computer book publisher), happily because 
of the work I got to do.  Unfortunately, the company merged with its 
parent company, and our site was dissolved.  (I don't have the stomach for 
freelancing or a non-regular-salary environment, so back to searching for 
me.)

Off I went to search for a new job.  I landed in a small company that was 
owned by a corporate one.  Talk about a mixed breed of experiences.  I 
loved the software that we were producing, and the people were great, but 
the mix of entrepreneurialism and corporate culture was quite interesting. 
 After that company folded (it was that time of the decade, where 
companies were closing a lot), I took a 3-month contract job at a VERY 
small company.  There was no upward mobility, but there was plenty of 
chaos and flexibility in the things that I did each day.  It drove me 
nuts.  :)

I then came back to the corporate world, and within a few months of being 
back, I found all the things that I loved about it:  structure, flow, 
larger networks of technical communicators, and in my view -- greater 
upward mobility. I had room to grow, expand, and influence all around me. 
I had a wealth of experiences outside of the corporation to bring into 
this new position, and it showed.  I know that I have many choices of what 
and where I can go in my career, even if I choose to leave traditional 
technical communication activities for other areas of software 
development, project management, or gasp -- management (not likely, but 
the option is there).

The money has been nice.  The money can grab you and take hold of you.  No 
doubt about it. Ultimately, though, you have to decide this: What will 
make you happiest? Money?  Security?  Interesting work?  Good people? 
Flexibility?  Wherever you are happiest, you will excel beyond what even 
you might realize.  I am where I am today in my career because I have 
followed my heart and followed what brings me happiness in my daily work.

There's my thoughts.  Hope they are helpful.

Cheers,
Michelle



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