Why You Should Work at a Startup - The Muse

Why You Should Work at a Startup - The MuseWhy You Should Work at a Startup One of the reasons I left my corporate job to be the first employee of a startup a few years ago welches that I knew it would accelerate my career. I knew that Id be asked to wear multiple hats (editor, marketer, recruiter, public speaker, event planner, and Chief Takeout Orderer, to name a few). I knew that Id be able to shape who we hired and how ur culture was defined as we grew. I knew that Id get constant access to the CEO because, well, she was typically seated next to me on the couch at our headquarters (read apartment). And if you Google why you should work at a startup, youll hear similar benefits Being part of a small, quickly growing company allows you be exposed to multiple parts of a business and get constant access to leadership.But thats not the whole story. In fact, looking back, being part of a startup has accelerated my career beyond my wildest expectations and in ways I never could have ima gined. And I hear the same from friends and contacts who have taken similar paths.I sat down recently with a few of the founders, alumni, and partner companies at Startup Institute to reflect on just how much a startup can boost your career. If youve ever contemplated joining an early-stage business, heres what you can expect to gain.1. An Impressive Job TitleIn the corporate world, the schedule for promotions generally follows a set path before advancing to the next role, you typically need a year or two of experience in your current one. In an extreme case, a friend of mine who was the top performer in her department was once told that she couldnt be promoted to the next level because that job just isnt given to 27-year-olds. Fair (or legal) or not, it happens.Not so much at startups, though. Especially in the early stages, the related experience you have matters much less than what youve proven you can do once hired. Often, people who join a startup at the early stages and are pa rt of its growth receive responsibilities, promotions, and job titles that they never could have dreamed of at a bigger company. For a great example, read this interview with Austin Geidt, who started out at Uber as an intern then quickly rose through the ranks to become a community manager and driver operations manager. Shes now the companys head of expansion. (For, you know, the world.)Jules Pieri, CEO of The Grommet, shares a similar story about employees at her company. Several people started doing temporary roles such as shipping or seasonal customer support, she says. They threw themselves at being excellent and word quickly traveled. Then they were also in the right place at the right time- those kind of expansion moves happen most fluidly in a growing company. We grew revenues 900% in the last two years, so most of the team has had a dramatic increase in responsibilities. 2. More Resume Bullets Than You Ever Thought PossibleAt a startup, you can pretty much guarantee that yo ull be making huge contributions to the business. At an early-stage startup, time is valuable, and every team member is critical, explains Alison Johnston Rue, the founder of InstaEDU, which was acquired by Chegg in 2014. This means that youll be working on projects that directly impact users, and probably immediately. In other words, youre going to be doing and achieving mora than you ever have before. (And working more, but thats another story.) In almost any role, youll be launching features, gaining users, or otherwise seeing results- and, no matter what type of job you do next, these are incredible things to be able to tell future employers that youve done. Particularly if youre making a career change. As Startup Institute co-founder Aaron OHearn puts it, Startup employees rarely work within the confines of one job description- you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty in a lot of different facets of the business. If youre a sales professional who wants to transition into, say, marketing- you can bet that finding new ways to gain users, discussing the brand strategy, or even writing copy will be part of your job description. In my current role as a community manager, Ive had the opportunity to also help our company with marketing, account management, product development, and customer support, says Erika Gordon, a former Startup Institute student who now works at Mobee.Is there a faster way to get that experience on your resume? Probably not.3. An Entirely Different Way of Thinking (and Thats a Good Thing)In most jobs, a lot of what you do is following procedures for whats been done before. fruchtwein companies have a standard way of doing things for everything from manufacturing to marketing to putting together meeting agendas. And while new ideas are often welcome, they typically fall into a framework of how the company has operated in the past. (Great idea Lets put it on the Q2 product roadmap.)At a startup? Youre building everything from scratch. And as you might imagine, designing, building, and creating requires a completely different skill set than following or adapting a standard protocol. And thats a good thing. In fact, recent research by the Institute for the Future detailed six factors driving the evolution of our workforce and- more importantly- the 10 skills every professional needs to succeed in the future. Its worth a look in full, but novel and adaptive thinking (the ability to think beyond whats been done before) and transdisciplinary thinking (the ability to think beyond your functional role) are two of the key traits workers will need to succeed in the future. Consider a startup- where youll be constantly innovating and interacting with other departments- your free education. As an added benefit, youll be learning from entrepreneurs, who by nature tend to think this way. People who start their own business have a different mental and professional makeup than those who have never gone off to create something of their own, writes Kerrin Sheldon in Fast Company. Entrepreneurs are defined by seeing a problem and thinking of an innovative and original way of addressing it They approach problems differently, are constantly finding solutions, and are driven to make the most out of their time and work. 4. A Mini MBAWorking at a large company, strategic decisions about business operations, hiring, culture, financing, budgeting, and so on are typically made in the C-suite or a board room, behind closed doors. In the earliest days of a startup, theyre typically made at the other end of the table or couch. In other words, most early employees are part of all of those conversation about business operations, hiring, culture, financing, budgeting, and so on. Working at a startup, you arent just a cog in the machine, explains Startup Institute VP of marketing Bryan Maleszyk. You have agency in building a company from the ground up. Business models and organization, company cult ure, and values- you can have a say in all of this. And even if you dont have a say, youll certainly have a front-row seat. As they grow, most small to mid-sized startups Ive known or worked with involve their team members in strategic decisions, or at the very least hold regular all-hands meetings where employees can ask questions and learn about whats going on within the company. And seeing the hausintern workings of a company with your own eyes on a daily or weekly basis? Theres pretty much no better way to understand the ins and outs of business.No, startup life isnt for everyone. (Heres a helpful article if youre contemplating whether its right for you.) But in many ways, theres nowhere else you can take on such incredible responsibility, have such immense growth potential, or move your career forward by such leaps and bounds. Photo of dashboard courtesy of Shutterstock.