Partner Article

Need a job? Work for a startup

We all know the jobs situation is bleak. Growth is still slow. Hiring is tentative, and still not in large enough numbers to reduce unemployment significantly. Europe can still be described, generously, as having a fragile economy, which means it still has a downside impact on the macro-economic climate.

It is no wonder then that this year’s batch of graduates are entering a jobs market not dissimilar to the one graduates found themselves in during the worst of the recession, and are being forced to look for alternatives to the traditional corporate career path that many expected to find themselves on.

Some pioneering entrepreneurs, like Rajeeb Dey, CEO of Enternships, are taking great steps to try to fix the employment and underemployment situation for graduates. He launched his UnRecruitment campaign at the Davos World Economic Forum 2013. UnRecruitment is designed to work with large employers to change the way recruitment works - so that both companies and candidates benefit from the experience. Enternships has also partnered with Santander UK and Wayra, the O2-Telefonica-backed global startup incubator program, in order to provide paid internships for graduates and students.

Working for a startup or SME is definitely an undervalued alternative route for graduates looking to enter the jobs market, and this is an area where many are starting to look for work. Smaller companies are growing faster and hiring quicker than large corporates. While working in a smaller company can be perceived as being slightly risker, the rewards and learning opportunities for serious career advancement are huge. There are far fewer perceived risks in large companies, but equally, far fewer rewards and chances to progress quickly, and the competition for each corporate position is massive.

So why else might the smart-thinking graduate consider working in a startup?

Startup Career v Corporate Career

• More responsibility. Instead of contributing to some report or proposal which might find its way to a client’s desk (minus your name) you have the chance to make a big difference, handling real responsibilities at an early point in your career.
• Working hard v Working smart. Most graduates should expect to face long hours early in your career. This isn’t always the case, especially in smaller companies where results matter more than hours clocked. Being small means you can allow for increased flexibility, including remote work, and more time off, in order to reward staff who make valuable contributions. This isn’t the norm in large corporates.
• When your company does well … In a startup, so do you. In a corporate - unless you have a very good bonus or profit incentive scheme (which many companies cut back on during the recession) - not so much.
• Do what you enjoy. Everyone has to enjoy, to a certain extent, what they do for a career. I am defining a career as employment which you have chosen, rather than merely a job, which you do for money. The chances are you will enjoy more of what you do in a smaller business because applying for a job with a company of that size means you’ve made a conscious choice to combine the kind of work you love with working for a company you are interested in. The sheer variety of experience you will gain in a startup is incredible. If you’re more concerned with working to live and having a set routing, I would recommend you take the corporate route.

Working for a startup or SME is an appealing career option, for many reasons, especially in this economic climate, but there is another alternative:

You could launch your own business.

There has never been a better time for this, and never have the barriers to entry been so low. But more about how you do that, as a graduate, in future articles.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dominic Tarn .