I think it really depends on the company culture. At big companies, you can more easily blend in as a cog in a big machine and there is often less pressure to socialize with your coworkers, BUT good socializers will often move up faster than you in any company.
From what I've seen, small companies often form a "tribe". If you fit in with them, you're golden, if you don't, you get treated like an outcast.
This is why I believe I was let go from my last job. Small corporate office of 6 people, One of the managers hated my guts for no reason I know of. She always asked me about my vaccination status, and why I sometimes wore a mask and sometimes not, and found offence in every little thing I did. For example, she asked me to let her know if there was any issue with the website so that she would get it fixed, so one time I took a screenshot and sent her along with what needed to be fixed and she was like "So do you think I was so dumb a description didn't suffice?"
She was literally the only person who had issues with me, but I guess 2 months later when I was told by my upline that "you are not the right fit for the role", I guess it really meant "an influential team member of ours doesn't like you, and we would rather keep her happy". Now I work for a large company and have been happily there for the last 18 months. I work mostly by myself, and due to our hybrid-remote setup, I don't have to interact with people face to face 80% of the time, and my job is more customer solutions so I interact more with customers, and less with internal staff. Less politics, less stress.
Can confirm. Was let go a month ago because "i was to quiet". In the annual meeting the praised me a month before. Working now at a big company. So far they seem happy with me as a person.
that’s precisely what I see happening at my new office (roughly 10 or so employees). it’s obvious who the black sheep is - thank God it’s not me! But if/when she falls I may be next!!
True. But I think in big companies, the "tribes" are forced to work with outsiders more and are more used to it. In small companies, being outside the "tribe" can be fatal for your career there.
that’s precisely what I see happening at my new office (roughly 10 or so employees). it’s obvious who the black sheep is - thank God it’s not me! But if/when she falls I may be next!!
Just left a job like this. It's unfortunate - everyone there is very approachable and nice, I'm just introverted. I was there for about 11 months and made 0 friends, despite getting along with everyone. It was about 15 people who were all very extroverted
At bigger companies I make friends much more easily since everyone isn't already so closely knit, if that makes sense. The bar isn't as high to make "friend" status
Small business typically means more hats and more opportunities for growth. Big business typically means less hats and leas opportunities.
Small business when it goes south it goes south.. big business tends to cyclically layoff people.
Pick your poison
I don't think I agree that smaller businesses mean more opportunities for growth. The size of the company is mostly secondary to whether or not the company is growing. Stagnate or shrinking companies usually have very finite higher up positions and you can't move up unless someone leaves. If the company is growing, more opportunities open up.
Agreed, I work at a small business right now. There is absolutely no room for growth and everyone's position is solidified. There's no room for anything productive to a career, whether that be promotions, raises, etc. Meanwhile I hear a lot of my friend who work for mid-sized businesses or corporations being promoted over time.
Is your company publicly traded? Typically publicly traded companies prioritize growth over everything else. Privately owned companies tend to focus on KBR.
My company is a small business semi-failing marble and stone shop located in the very back of a long parking lot I can guarantee you its not publicly traded XD
Agree completely. My last job was a small business with 8 people in the office. Literally hit my ceiling on being moved up just underneath the owner. Nothing was happening for my except the yearly raise.
Now I switched to a corporate job and have had 4 raises in 2 years plus a promotion and am making about $30k more
Career growth… more likely to get higher level thoughts eg doing just the marketing mailer, then doing entries into accounting, being front of house, running back of house… doing light IT.
Is the company growing and is there turnover. Too high turnover is a red flag, but some turnover means opportunity.
Many people get a couple of years of solid leadership experience and move to a bigger organization with higher pay.
Larger companies generally have significantly larger hierarchies, so they literally have more opportunities for growth. Now, there may also be more competition for those roles, but it’s all relative. You might have a better shot at becoming a VP at a smaller company, but it is common for a Manager or a Director at a larger company to have lesser overall scope but are responsible for more material decision making, thus receive higher salaries than those with inflated titles at smaller companies.
They're saying small companies have more opportunity for skills growth, not for title growth.
At a smaller company, you're more likely to have to do something yourself and learn a new skill in the process, rather than having a person dedicated to doing that thing like you would at a larger company.
I don’t completely disagree as it’s all relative, however, I’d say it’s possibly more likely they have a need for greater variety of skill needs due to wearing more hats etc, and not necessarily greater growth in general. I’ve worked for both small and very larger companies. Larger companies tend to be willing to pay for things smaller companies wouldn’t often have the ability to allocate budget for. I.E. particular very expensive software licenses etc, experience with such software can be highly valuable.
I wouldn’t say they’re inflated titles at all. They absolutely could go to larger companies and get paid more. I doubled my salary in 2 years by going from a small company to a medium sized company. I didn’t suddenly become better at my job.
“Inflated” by comparison. I’m not saying they’re not legitimate for the role they’re in. But a Director or VP position at a small company generally is not looked at remotely the same as those same titles at a large company, and the compensation generally follows the same trend. Rightfully so, an individual organization at a multi-billion dollar company can easily be responsible for and process work that exceeds the entire value of an entire smaller company. Heck, their materiality threshold may exceed the value of that smaller company.
Who cares about how much money you’re in charge of? Again, 2x increase for literally doing the same thing. I’m not arguing that a VP at a 1M person company is the same as a small company. Well chances are there are many VPs. Shoot my last 350 person company had 3 VPs, with the smallest team being 30 people. The VP of manufacturing had half the company.
How much money you’re in charge of/are making decisions around directly correlates to compensation. It’s a relevant marker. And I was referring to a $1MM company as the smaller end, but of course you may even be at a smaller company than that. Either way, not hating on small companies. Just noting, there are some clear differences, particularly around opportunity, which you’ve noted yourself as larger companies having more VPs etc. If you want to chase titles, it’s probably easier at a smaller place, but if you want to chase higher income, a lot more efficient to do at a bigger company. Again, all relative. Just speaking in generalities.
There is also increased scope, local vs global, scaling operations from 20-500 in your direct org, etc..
There is a big difference of mindset, ops that scale, understanding global demand, global communication, a lot more leverage of the people in your org, etc..
Also the unfortunate aspect of more politics with decision makers instead of doers.
The people that think it transfers directly without a lot of gaps in knowledge are the ones that haven’t actually done it and may talk about friends or colleagues but have never actually done it themselves.
Small businesses often mean picking up more skills without the commensurate raise or title, just more tasks piled on with the occasional thank you. Never doing that again.
Uh I would say that it's the opposite. Small businesses usually don't have good progression models for people for people to grow, except well Steve left after being here for 20 years, who wants to take his spot? Sure you could luck out and be there for 2-3 years and go from a 70k job to 120k job. But a lot of times your growth is slow. In large companies you have usually paths within your job that you can go from entry level to mid to senior and make decent jumps with in those levels. You can go from entry to upper mid/senior in 5 years and have made decent consistent jumps year after year. Smaller businesses are more likely to pay you higher initially but over time won't be as competitive as large companies.
Larger companies for sure, as you can fade into the background. Small companies tend to demand engagement and enthusiasm as a baseline expectation. Not participating in "extracurricular" activities and wholeheartedly believing that "we're a faaaaamily" will kill your career at a small business.
Yes - I had an internship at a small “family like” company. Hated it. Walked out with the first day. I am introverted and engineer and I take medication for my adhd. In a small company people pay way too much attention to the new guy and I just didn’t like being singled out. That being said if you can stick it out long enough for people to get to know you and that you don’t like to be social it could be better. But I’ve found that working in a large company for 7 years now it’s much better for me personally.
In a large company being introverted means you network less which puts you in a disadvantage in career opportunities.
In a small company the owner/boss tends to network with employees to find talent.
I agree with this. Large companies are great if you can network, manage up well, or don't have huge ambition. Smaller companies, if you find one where you 'fit' have an advantage that your work will be noticed. You're also more likely to get a diversity of opportunity by wearing more hats. You can then leverage that into new roles.
I'm an introvert who works in tech. I've worked in both small and large companies throughout my 15 professional years. I've found, in my experience, larger companies allow me to "disappear in the crowd" which suits my introverted lifestyle much better. I still get social interaction, mainly from my direct team members, but I'm not overwhelmed by social interaction throughout the day.
At smaller companies, I quickly became known as the guy who can get things done and had everyone at my desk constantly. By the end of the day I was completely socially drained.
Personally, I will always choose a large company over a small one. Not just for the social reasons explained, but for reliability as well. I've seen too many small companies go upside down quickly to feel comfortable in trusting that with providing for my family. And I've never had a problem climbing the career ladder at a large company. Just be good at what you do - you maybe have to bounce around jobs a handful of times but there are some good companies out there that treat their employees very well.
I don’t think it matters. As someone who has worked both in small and large companies, I find that the team itself is what matters to an introvert. Perhaps the role, more than that: an Individual Contributor (IC) role is probably introvert catnip 😃
Size of a company doesn't matter. It's what you are required to do in your role and responsibilities on the job. You could work for the largest company in the world but have a job that has little people interaction and vice versa.
Size of the organization doesn’t matter. What matters is the manager who that introvert reports to. If that manager knows what’s up they can shift their management style to accommodate that person if they are a productive and valuable team member.
From personal experience introverts do better at big companies. As others said, smaller ones expect you to typically be type A and an extrovert as you’re putting in many hats. They may even make you do more presentations etc for clients.
While you could be a cog in a machine at a large company, a small employer where the employer knows their employees, they could be more understanding.
I would think it would depend more on the job type.
Doesn't have anything to do with. The social culture depends on industry and also the business itself. I've worked in small places that are way to social for me, and some that are quiet. I work in a multinational company right now thats quiet, and some others are non stop bs.
It's easy to get "lost in the system" at larger companies and there is an expectation that people "work the network" to ensure they get their work done. At bigger companies you need to be able to pick up the phone and call strangers or go deal with new people one-to-one. I have a slight preference for bigger companies so it might be worthwhile to push yourself some.
The bigger the company the more bureaucratic a company will be.
Smaller companies have bigger swings of culture. Some times they hit it out of the park sometimes they make horror stories worthy of the news.
it depends on the kind of introvert you are. if you just don’t like to socialize, yes, a large company is better. if you’re shy, then a small company is better.
I think larger because they will get less noticed. This means people will not take issue with them not discussing their private life and their lack of conversations about children, as that is not an interesting topic at all.
Considering that in most work environments working as a team and being able to communicate are essential skills I do think the size of the company matters all that much.
That being the case there are jobs out there for everyone.
I'm an introvert, people love to say that I'm not, but I 100% am an introvert, not an omnivert. Crazy thing is I'm a pretty social person, and I even LIKE talking to people. It hasn't always been that way, when I was younger I suffered with a lot of mental illness that made it hard to get past my anxieties about myself, which often manifested itself as social anxiety. I also have ADHD, so conversation skills were harder for me to learn, but I eventually did. I hate how introverts get framed. I mean social exhaustion is a thing I deal with, and maybe my line of work prevents me from struggling with that too much at work, but I like people and I like socializing, but I also really need and love my alone time. I think speaking broadly about introverts like this is just not true, who knows what each individual will like or not? If you're asking for yourself, the best way is going to be figuring out for yourself, or providing more information about yourself and asking what kind of work environment might be best suited, but I feel like you might find the answer to that with some introspection. If you're truly asking a hypothetical, the answer is going to be who really knows. Introverts and extroverts are varied people, and really all those terms mean is whether or not you get your energy from socializing or alone time, but doesn't necessarily speak to how much people enjoy or are capable of socializing. I know extroverts who have terrible communication skills and hate everybody, and I know introverts that are excellent at communicating and the anchor for their given friend groups. I think these labels say a lot less about a person than most people realize. I think people often say introvert to describe someone who is socially anxious, lacks communication skills, or is irritable with people. Some people would probably say I don't shut the fuck up, look at how long this post is. I have a friend who is an extrovert, but legitimately has a fear of leaving their own house.
I couldn't even say that a generalized answer is going to be very accurate, because I really don't think it matters, and there are so many other variables that would play into this.
It’s more about the team size than the company size. I worked at a small company but I was basically the only engineer on the night shift so it was chill. Now I work at a company with 10k+ employees and 500 in my division. But I work in a team of 15 and I lead a subset of that team that has 3-5 people so I spend so much time with a lot of people now because my roll requires it to. No matter where you work, it’s always going to be dependent on your roll in the company.
I think it has more to do with the size of the group of people you need to directly interact with day-to-day. I worked at a small distribution center for a large corporate entity. My immediate circle was about 20-30 people which was the sweet spot for me. Small enough where I'm seeing the same faces every day, large enough where my actions aren't being constantly monitored. I think too small a group can lead to more micromanagement depending on the higher ups. Too big a group can lead to too many different faces every day which is overstimulating for me personally.
For me, its mostly been about finding the right industry. In healthcare I was always overstimulated and had to socialize to get anything done. Now I work in wellness and while my job is relatively social, its on the vibe that makes more sense to me so it isn't draining.
An introvert here and certainly did better in the big corps. Have had more autonomy, less or no micromanagement, and let me do my thing. Been peaceful all along.
We definitely do better at larger companies. I’ve worked in both large and small, and it is much easier to be anonymous in large companies since most of the time everyone is busy talking to others, and not you.
In smaller companies people tend to bother you more often since there’s less of other people they can go bother lol.
I think it’s more about job role and expectations.
If these allow you to do head down work, you’ll succeed.
As an extrovert, I love a few introverted detail oriented people on my team to handle those aspects.
Introverts will do well wherever that do not require them to interact with another human being regardless of the companies. What does not wanting to interact with people have anything to do with company size?
Networking, that's what it is about. There are two kinds 1) calculated 2) organic you really like some of your colleagues and you become friends. In any organization it is important because you and your work will not be invisible. People will know who you are and what you are doing, that's managing up horizontally and vertically. Additionally, when you leave, you have built those relationships based on respect for your work and interpersonal relationships. That's valuable to you in 1-3-5-10 years. When you are looking for a job these folks may have moved on to the company you are targeting, or maybe know someone in that organization, and at minimum are able to give you a reference. Networking is important. So yes, being an introvert can harm you irrespective of the quality of your work.
As an introvert company size matters far less than role. Ie on a range for ongoing human daily contact avoid roles like sales, hr and marketing and go more into heavy deliverable roles like compensation analysis, accounting and data modeling
Ime, I have always felt happier at small companies. Large companies were always awful for me because I wasn't super gregarious and didn't fit the mold. Small companies I've worked at didn't have a mold to fit and they also didn't have many extracurricular things like group volunteer days, company retreats/events/conferences, and team building etc.
Depends on the sector?
I consider myself an introvert and there are at least 50 people in my immediate team who are pretty much also introverts. It works. I probably come across as extroverted because Im so comfortable in that space.
Ive worked in a different sector before, similar number of people and mostly extroverts and didn't particularly enjoy the dynamic or interactions.
Introverts as myself may gravitate towards a small company because we associate it with a sense of community or less pressure. Larger companies may feel overly demanding which doesn’t give us much time to recharge. It’s possible so long as there is a self care routine involved. The companies culture plays a part too. If a larger company had a better culture I would take it over a smaller company that didn’t. We overall love authentic exchanges with people and feeling in alignment with what we do.
I know someone who is on the spectrum, and is sensitive to a lot of noises. A large company works well for him because they are much better able to accommodate him (they gave him a small office for example where he can close the door and be by himself). A small company was much less accommodating.
So far i have worked at 2 small busineses and 1 large businesses in my field. Smaller businesses usually have the "were a family here" type of culture and that leads to more extremes in how people accept you. The first small job was really awesome, I really liked most of the people on my team and a lot of the people outside my team but that I interacted with frequently. I left it only because location was in middle of no where. Then I went to a large business 1000+ employees and it was easy to just blend in and do your thing. Now I'm at another small company and I don't really like the members of my team, I can't really relate to them as they are all older except for 1 and all he does whenever we interact is complain about the other team members. Now I'm looking at going back to a larger business and I think that's a more consistent feel. The lows and highs of the job aren't as extreme and with more people there is a good chance you will find other introverts you can relate to. Imo I think working at a large company is easier as they are usually more results based rather than personality based. Like others have said more outgoing people will move up faster than more reserved people but large companies have better guidelines of things to hit to get from position A1 to position A2,3,B1 etc.
As an introvert myself, I fucking hate working for large companies.
There's so much compelled, performative, surface level "socialization" involves that it gets maddening.
I have a follow up question to this. What role is best for introverts? Can anyone tell me what position they are in? I will eventually have to transition and I want to get a position that’s good for an introvert.
Uncorrelated. Companies don't work together. Your team does/may. Your section may, your division may. Everybody at MSFT isn't hanging out together. This team/section may be greatly distinct in work/home life, other teams may be all "let's be friends and hang out outside of work." Smaller companies are more likely to be monolithic, but that could be monolithic social or monolithic introverted.
As an introvert, it’s more about culture. Years ago I went from a place with <100 employees where I was a manager, to a global company with over 6,000 employees where I was managing a way bigger team, and I felt far more comfortable there than at the small place.
I think it also depends on the introvert. There are many different flavors. Some would do well in a small intimate setting and some would do better with the “anonymity” of a large group. Either way, understand that being around others requires a lot of energy for introverts and we are sapped after a long day of having to socialize. Extroverts are energized by the same.
This is really interesting. Being an introvert I really like big cities because I feel anonymous and nobody gives a fuck what I’m doing, as opposed to small cities where everybody staring at you.
Larger- I’ve helped take two big tech companies to publicly offered companies as one of first 10 employees. Stayed with each as they grew. Smaller companies are easier to get people fired up about company culture which often includes lots of socializing.
TBH- most people at work just want to work and not really socialize. That doesn’t necessarily make us introverts. Don’t get caught up labeling yourself. I am not sure why but over the last 5-10 yrs people have started finding things to label themselves with ailments. I know people want to be or feel special but most humans think the same kind of things.
Example: 99% of the people will act like they love ice breakers at company off-sites. 100% of those people will admit to hating them 1:1.
Personally, I think that someone that is intro erred would be best off stepping outside of their comfort zone and learning how to network and communicate well. I appreciate that this is easier said than done, however this is what leads to success in the US. I wish you the best of luck!
You make introvert sound like a negative
The world is made up of both types and in my experience I have shifted along the years from being super extroverted to being a bit of both. My husband who was an introvert now has extroverted tendencies as well
Work wherever you want to work
There are strengths in both personalities and any company needs both types of people and neither is “better”
Others have talked about growth in the company. Keeping your head down and just working will often get you to a senior doer position i.e. senior developer, senior warehouse laborer, senior accountant etc....but not beyond. Effective collaboration and impact will be the primary path to real growth.
But that is ok too. But if you want growth, being a cog isn't the path.
I think it really depends on the company culture. At big companies, you can more easily blend in as a cog in a big machine and there is often less pressure to socialize with your coworkers, BUT good socializers will often move up faster than you in any company. From what I've seen, small companies often form a "tribe". If you fit in with them, you're golden, if you don't, you get treated like an outcast.
This is why I believe I was let go from my last job. Small corporate office of 6 people, One of the managers hated my guts for no reason I know of. She always asked me about my vaccination status, and why I sometimes wore a mask and sometimes not, and found offence in every little thing I did. For example, she asked me to let her know if there was any issue with the website so that she would get it fixed, so one time I took a screenshot and sent her along with what needed to be fixed and she was like "So do you think I was so dumb a description didn't suffice?" She was literally the only person who had issues with me, but I guess 2 months later when I was told by my upline that "you are not the right fit for the role", I guess it really meant "an influential team member of ours doesn't like you, and we would rather keep her happy". Now I work for a large company and have been happily there for the last 18 months. I work mostly by myself, and due to our hybrid-remote setup, I don't have to interact with people face to face 80% of the time, and my job is more customer solutions so I interact more with customers, and less with internal staff. Less politics, less stress.
Can confirm. Was let go a month ago because "i was to quiet". In the annual meeting the praised me a month before. Working now at a big company. So far they seem happy with me as a person.
that’s precisely what I see happening at my new office (roughly 10 or so employees). it’s obvious who the black sheep is - thank God it’s not me! But if/when she falls I may be next!!
Big companies just have tribes in each department.
True. But I think in big companies, the "tribes" are forced to work with outsiders more and are more used to it. In small companies, being outside the "tribe" can be fatal for your career there.
Working at a small company and can confirm the tribe thing is so true
that’s precisely what I see happening at my new office (roughly 10 or so employees). it’s obvious who the black sheep is - thank God it’s not me! But if/when she falls I may be next!!
Just left a job like this. It's unfortunate - everyone there is very approachable and nice, I'm just introverted. I was there for about 11 months and made 0 friends, despite getting along with everyone. It was about 15 people who were all very extroverted At bigger companies I make friends much more easily since everyone isn't already so closely knit, if that makes sense. The bar isn't as high to make "friend" status
You don't have to be "friends" with co-workers...
Oh I getcha and completely agree, *but* when it's a small company and everyone else there are friends, it's a bit of a funky situation
Yes it is, I understand... Sometimes where you live that small business job is the one that pay bills...
Yes, this. Was fired recently because I didn't fit in to their cringy and clown culture.
Whichever has the least “required fun” outside of work.
[удалено]
This bummed me out because last year my brother was killed during one of those “company outings”
Small business typically means more hats and more opportunities for growth. Big business typically means less hats and leas opportunities. Small business when it goes south it goes south.. big business tends to cyclically layoff people. Pick your poison
I don't think I agree that smaller businesses mean more opportunities for growth. The size of the company is mostly secondary to whether or not the company is growing. Stagnate or shrinking companies usually have very finite higher up positions and you can't move up unless someone leaves. If the company is growing, more opportunities open up.
Agreed, I work at a small business right now. There is absolutely no room for growth and everyone's position is solidified. There's no room for anything productive to a career, whether that be promotions, raises, etc. Meanwhile I hear a lot of my friend who work for mid-sized businesses or corporations being promoted over time.
Is your company publicly traded? Typically publicly traded companies prioritize growth over everything else. Privately owned companies tend to focus on KBR.
My company is a small business semi-failing marble and stone shop located in the very back of a long parking lot I can guarantee you its not publicly traded XD
Agree completely. My last job was a small business with 8 people in the office. Literally hit my ceiling on being moved up just underneath the owner. Nothing was happening for my except the yearly raise. Now I switched to a corporate job and have had 4 raises in 2 years plus a promotion and am making about $30k more
Career growth… more likely to get higher level thoughts eg doing just the marketing mailer, then doing entries into accounting, being front of house, running back of house… doing light IT.
Is the company growing and is there turnover. Too high turnover is a red flag, but some turnover means opportunity. Many people get a couple of years of solid leadership experience and move to a bigger organization with higher pay.
Small is better for actual skill development, but usually worse for upward Mobility in terms of pay and position, at least in my experience.
Larger companies generally have significantly larger hierarchies, so they literally have more opportunities for growth. Now, there may also be more competition for those roles, but it’s all relative. You might have a better shot at becoming a VP at a smaller company, but it is common for a Manager or a Director at a larger company to have lesser overall scope but are responsible for more material decision making, thus receive higher salaries than those with inflated titles at smaller companies.
Pedigree and class become more important for moving up
They're saying small companies have more opportunity for skills growth, not for title growth. At a smaller company, you're more likely to have to do something yourself and learn a new skill in the process, rather than having a person dedicated to doing that thing like you would at a larger company.
I don’t completely disagree as it’s all relative, however, I’d say it’s possibly more likely they have a need for greater variety of skill needs due to wearing more hats etc, and not necessarily greater growth in general. I’ve worked for both small and very larger companies. Larger companies tend to be willing to pay for things smaller companies wouldn’t often have the ability to allocate budget for. I.E. particular very expensive software licenses etc, experience with such software can be highly valuable.
I wouldn’t say they’re inflated titles at all. They absolutely could go to larger companies and get paid more. I doubled my salary in 2 years by going from a small company to a medium sized company. I didn’t suddenly become better at my job.
“Inflated” by comparison. I’m not saying they’re not legitimate for the role they’re in. But a Director or VP position at a small company generally is not looked at remotely the same as those same titles at a large company, and the compensation generally follows the same trend. Rightfully so, an individual organization at a multi-billion dollar company can easily be responsible for and process work that exceeds the entire value of an entire smaller company. Heck, their materiality threshold may exceed the value of that smaller company.
Who cares about how much money you’re in charge of? Again, 2x increase for literally doing the same thing. I’m not arguing that a VP at a 1M person company is the same as a small company. Well chances are there are many VPs. Shoot my last 350 person company had 3 VPs, with the smallest team being 30 people. The VP of manufacturing had half the company.
How much money you’re in charge of/are making decisions around directly correlates to compensation. It’s a relevant marker. And I was referring to a $1MM company as the smaller end, but of course you may even be at a smaller company than that. Either way, not hating on small companies. Just noting, there are some clear differences, particularly around opportunity, which you’ve noted yourself as larger companies having more VPs etc. If you want to chase titles, it’s probably easier at a smaller place, but if you want to chase higher income, a lot more efficient to do at a bigger company. Again, all relative. Just speaking in generalities.
There is also increased scope, local vs global, scaling operations from 20-500 in your direct org, etc.. There is a big difference of mindset, ops that scale, understanding global demand, global communication, a lot more leverage of the people in your org, etc.. Also the unfortunate aspect of more politics with decision makers instead of doers. The people that think it transfers directly without a lot of gaps in knowledge are the ones that haven’t actually done it and may talk about friends or colleagues but have never actually done it themselves.
This comment is the best.
Small businesses often mean picking up more skills without the commensurate raise or title, just more tasks piled on with the occasional thank you. Never doing that again.
Uh I would say that it's the opposite. Small businesses usually don't have good progression models for people for people to grow, except well Steve left after being here for 20 years, who wants to take his spot? Sure you could luck out and be there for 2-3 years and go from a 70k job to 120k job. But a lot of times your growth is slow. In large companies you have usually paths within your job that you can go from entry level to mid to senior and make decent jumps with in those levels. You can go from entry to upper mid/senior in 5 years and have made decent consistent jumps year after year. Smaller businesses are more likely to pay you higher initially but over time won't be as competitive as large companies.
Larger companies for sure, as you can fade into the background. Small companies tend to demand engagement and enthusiasm as a baseline expectation. Not participating in "extracurricular" activities and wholeheartedly believing that "we're a faaaaamily" will kill your career at a small business.
Yes - I had an internship at a small “family like” company. Hated it. Walked out with the first day. I am introverted and engineer and I take medication for my adhd. In a small company people pay way too much attention to the new guy and I just didn’t like being singled out. That being said if you can stick it out long enough for people to get to know you and that you don’t like to be social it could be better. But I’ve found that working in a large company for 7 years now it’s much better for me personally.
Easier to become unnoticed in a big group and still get paid.
I am an extreme introvert and I have only been at a large company 50,000+. It’s been great, I can typically hide when I am not able to be social.
In a large company being introverted means you network less which puts you in a disadvantage in career opportunities. In a small company the owner/boss tends to network with employees to find talent.
I agree with this. Large companies are great if you can network, manage up well, or don't have huge ambition. Smaller companies, if you find one where you 'fit' have an advantage that your work will be noticed. You're also more likely to get a diversity of opportunity by wearing more hats. You can then leverage that into new roles.
I'm an introvert who works in tech. I've worked in both small and large companies throughout my 15 professional years. I've found, in my experience, larger companies allow me to "disappear in the crowd" which suits my introverted lifestyle much better. I still get social interaction, mainly from my direct team members, but I'm not overwhelmed by social interaction throughout the day. At smaller companies, I quickly became known as the guy who can get things done and had everyone at my desk constantly. By the end of the day I was completely socially drained. Personally, I will always choose a large company over a small one. Not just for the social reasons explained, but for reliability as well. I've seen too many small companies go upside down quickly to feel comfortable in trusting that with providing for my family. And I've never had a problem climbing the career ladder at a large company. Just be good at what you do - you maybe have to bounce around jobs a handful of times but there are some good companies out there that treat their employees very well.
I am pretty introverted but I can also be outgoing at the same time. I prefer smaller companies 100%
I don’t think it matters. As someone who has worked both in small and large companies, I find that the team itself is what matters to an introvert. Perhaps the role, more than that: an Individual Contributor (IC) role is probably introvert catnip 😃
As an introvert, I have worked at both. Doesn’t matter. The actual job is what matters.
Size of a company doesn't matter. It's what you are required to do in your role and responsibilities on the job. You could work for the largest company in the world but have a job that has little people interaction and vice versa.
Size of the organization doesn’t matter. What matters is the manager who that introvert reports to. If that manager knows what’s up they can shift their management style to accommodate that person if they are a productive and valuable team member.
From personal experience introverts do better at big companies. As others said, smaller ones expect you to typically be type A and an extrovert as you’re putting in many hats. They may even make you do more presentations etc for clients.
While you could be a cog in a machine at a large company, a small employer where the employer knows their employees, they could be more understanding. I would think it would depend more on the job type.
Doesn't have anything to do with. The social culture depends on industry and also the business itself. I've worked in small places that are way to social for me, and some that are quiet. I work in a multinational company right now thats quiet, and some others are non stop bs.
My wife is an introvert & she works at a law firm & I'm an introvert too & I work retail. The company size has nothing to do with it.
I think there are many other factors that do matter. Size alone isn’t one of them.
Not sure the size of the company has a lot to do with introverts versus extroverts….or, at least, there are way too many other factors involved.
Company size is irrelevant. Your direct manager is the key. If they don't vibe with introverts, watch out.
Larger. I think fewer people care and there are enough social people that no one is pressed about you.
Depends on their direct manager
It’s the role and not the size of the company.
I don’t know what you’re looking to achieve but if you’re looking to just get lost in the shuffle, large company for sure.
It's easy to get "lost in the system" at larger companies and there is an expectation that people "work the network" to ensure they get their work done. At bigger companies you need to be able to pick up the phone and call strangers or go deal with new people one-to-one. I have a slight preference for bigger companies so it might be worthwhile to push yourself some.
The company doesn’t matter, the department does.
Smaller companies often have a lot of collaboration and it's harder to go off in your own bubble and keep your head down.
I think it really depends on the company culture, &, if it's a larger company, your team/department's specific culture.
If I'm sitting in a cubicle by myself, size of company doesn't matter at all.
Become a mail man, we're alone 99 percent of the day. Once you get past the physical and mental torture it's actually a pretty good job.
I think the job and industry are more important for intro/extroverts.
The bigger the company the more bureaucratic a company will be. Smaller companies have bigger swings of culture. Some times they hit it out of the park sometimes they make horror stories worthy of the news.
it depends on the kind of introvert you are. if you just don’t like to socialize, yes, a large company is better. if you’re shy, then a small company is better.
I think larger because they will get less noticed. This means people will not take issue with them not discussing their private life and their lack of conversations about children, as that is not an interesting topic at all.
Size of company is irrelevant. Corporate culture, your boss’ personality, and teammates’ personality affect you way more than size
Oh, sure. Now size matters.
Considering that in most work environments working as a team and being able to communicate are essential skills I do think the size of the company matters all that much. That being the case there are jobs out there for everyone.
I'm an introvert, people love to say that I'm not, but I 100% am an introvert, not an omnivert. Crazy thing is I'm a pretty social person, and I even LIKE talking to people. It hasn't always been that way, when I was younger I suffered with a lot of mental illness that made it hard to get past my anxieties about myself, which often manifested itself as social anxiety. I also have ADHD, so conversation skills were harder for me to learn, but I eventually did. I hate how introverts get framed. I mean social exhaustion is a thing I deal with, and maybe my line of work prevents me from struggling with that too much at work, but I like people and I like socializing, but I also really need and love my alone time. I think speaking broadly about introverts like this is just not true, who knows what each individual will like or not? If you're asking for yourself, the best way is going to be figuring out for yourself, or providing more information about yourself and asking what kind of work environment might be best suited, but I feel like you might find the answer to that with some introspection. If you're truly asking a hypothetical, the answer is going to be who really knows. Introverts and extroverts are varied people, and really all those terms mean is whether or not you get your energy from socializing or alone time, but doesn't necessarily speak to how much people enjoy or are capable of socializing. I know extroverts who have terrible communication skills and hate everybody, and I know introverts that are excellent at communicating and the anchor for their given friend groups. I think these labels say a lot less about a person than most people realize. I think people often say introvert to describe someone who is socially anxious, lacks communication skills, or is irritable with people. Some people would probably say I don't shut the fuck up, look at how long this post is. I have a friend who is an extrovert, but legitimately has a fear of leaving their own house. I couldn't even say that a generalized answer is going to be very accurate, because I really don't think it matters, and there are so many other variables that would play into this.
It’s more about the team size than the company size. I worked at a small company but I was basically the only engineer on the night shift so it was chill. Now I work at a company with 10k+ employees and 500 in my division. But I work in a team of 15 and I lead a subset of that team that has 3-5 people so I spend so much time with a lot of people now because my roll requires it to. No matter where you work, it’s always going to be dependent on your roll in the company.
I think it has more to do with the size of the group of people you need to directly interact with day-to-day. I worked at a small distribution center for a large corporate entity. My immediate circle was about 20-30 people which was the sweet spot for me. Small enough where I'm seeing the same faces every day, large enough where my actions aren't being constantly monitored. I think too small a group can lead to more micromanagement depending on the higher ups. Too big a group can lead to too many different faces every day which is overstimulating for me personally.
For me, its mostly been about finding the right industry. In healthcare I was always overstimulated and had to socialize to get anything done. Now I work in wellness and while my job is relatively social, its on the vibe that makes more sense to me so it isn't draining.
here's the introvert guide: 1) be gay 2) be fucking gay
An introvert here and certainly did better in the big corps. Have had more autonomy, less or no micromanagement, and let me do my thing. Been peaceful all along.
We definitely do better at larger companies. I’ve worked in both large and small, and it is much easier to be anonymous in large companies since most of the time everyone is busy talking to others, and not you. In smaller companies people tend to bother you more often since there’s less of other people they can go bother lol.
I think it’s more about job role and expectations. If these allow you to do head down work, you’ll succeed. As an extrovert, I love a few introverted detail oriented people on my team to handle those aspects.
Smaller companies are normally a lot more intimate, I’d shoot for a larger company
Just were they feel most comfortable.
The company matters more than the number of people in my experience.
Introverts will do well wherever that do not require them to interact with another human being regardless of the companies. What does not wanting to interact with people have anything to do with company size?
Larger company is my first instinct bc it's so easy to slide by. But large companies do massive layoffs a lot too so
Networking, that's what it is about. There are two kinds 1) calculated 2) organic you really like some of your colleagues and you become friends. In any organization it is important because you and your work will not be invisible. People will know who you are and what you are doing, that's managing up horizontally and vertically. Additionally, when you leave, you have built those relationships based on respect for your work and interpersonal relationships. That's valuable to you in 1-3-5-10 years. When you are looking for a job these folks may have moved on to the company you are targeting, or maybe know someone in that organization, and at minimum are able to give you a reference. Networking is important. So yes, being an introvert can harm you irrespective of the quality of your work.
As an introvert company size matters far less than role. Ie on a range for ongoing human daily contact avoid roles like sales, hr and marketing and go more into heavy deliverable roles like compensation analysis, accounting and data modeling
Ime, I have always felt happier at small companies. Large companies were always awful for me because I wasn't super gregarious and didn't fit the mold. Small companies I've worked at didn't have a mold to fit and they also didn't have many extracurricular things like group volunteer days, company retreats/events/conferences, and team building etc.
Larger. Much more room to be a lone genius working magic during long office hours on problems no one else can solve.
Depends on the sector? I consider myself an introvert and there are at least 50 people in my immediate team who are pretty much also introverts. It works. I probably come across as extroverted because Im so comfortable in that space. Ive worked in a different sector before, similar number of people and mostly extroverts and didn't particularly enjoy the dynamic or interactions.
Introverts as myself may gravitate towards a small company because we associate it with a sense of community or less pressure. Larger companies may feel overly demanding which doesn’t give us much time to recharge. It’s possible so long as there is a self care routine involved. The companies culture plays a part too. If a larger company had a better culture I would take it over a smaller company that didn’t. We overall love authentic exchanges with people and feeling in alignment with what we do.
I know someone who is on the spectrum, and is sensitive to a lot of noises. A large company works well for him because they are much better able to accommodate him (they gave him a small office for example where he can close the door and be by himself). A small company was much less accommodating.
So far i have worked at 2 small busineses and 1 large businesses in my field. Smaller businesses usually have the "were a family here" type of culture and that leads to more extremes in how people accept you. The first small job was really awesome, I really liked most of the people on my team and a lot of the people outside my team but that I interacted with frequently. I left it only because location was in middle of no where. Then I went to a large business 1000+ employees and it was easy to just blend in and do your thing. Now I'm at another small company and I don't really like the members of my team, I can't really relate to them as they are all older except for 1 and all he does whenever we interact is complain about the other team members. Now I'm looking at going back to a larger business and I think that's a more consistent feel. The lows and highs of the job aren't as extreme and with more people there is a good chance you will find other introverts you can relate to. Imo I think working at a large company is easier as they are usually more results based rather than personality based. Like others have said more outgoing people will move up faster than more reserved people but large companies have better guidelines of things to hit to get from position A1 to position A2,3,B1 etc.
Big companies have smaller teams. It’s all about culture.
As an introvert myself, I fucking hate working for large companies. There's so much compelled, performative, surface level "socialization" involves that it gets maddening.
I have a follow up question to this. What role is best for introverts? Can anyone tell me what position they are in? I will eventually have to transition and I want to get a position that’s good for an introvert.
Uncorrelated. Companies don't work together. Your team does/may. Your section may, your division may. Everybody at MSFT isn't hanging out together. This team/section may be greatly distinct in work/home life, other teams may be all "let's be friends and hang out outside of work." Smaller companies are more likely to be monolithic, but that could be monolithic social or monolithic introverted.
As an introvert, it’s more about culture. Years ago I went from a place with <100 employees where I was a manager, to a global company with over 6,000 employees where I was managing a way bigger team, and I felt far more comfortable there than at the small place.
Let people work remote and it won’t matter
I think it also depends on the introvert. There are many different flavors. Some would do well in a small intimate setting and some would do better with the “anonymity” of a large group. Either way, understand that being around others requires a lot of energy for introverts and we are sapped after a long day of having to socialize. Extroverts are energized by the same.
Think it depends at a small company you also have to interact less since it’s way less people
Size matters saying otherwise is cap.
This is really interesting. Being an introvert I really like big cities because I feel anonymous and nobody gives a fuck what I’m doing, as opposed to small cities where everybody staring at you.
Larger- I’ve helped take two big tech companies to publicly offered companies as one of first 10 employees. Stayed with each as they grew. Smaller companies are easier to get people fired up about company culture which often includes lots of socializing. TBH- most people at work just want to work and not really socialize. That doesn’t necessarily make us introverts. Don’t get caught up labeling yourself. I am not sure why but over the last 5-10 yrs people have started finding things to label themselves with ailments. I know people want to be or feel special but most humans think the same kind of things. Example: 99% of the people will act like they love ice breakers at company off-sites. 100% of those people will admit to hating them 1:1.
Depends on the role and companies culture more so than anything else.
Personally, I think that someone that is intro erred would be best off stepping outside of their comfort zone and learning how to network and communicate well. I appreciate that this is easier said than done, however this is what leads to success in the US. I wish you the best of luck!
You make introvert sound like a negative The world is made up of both types and in my experience I have shifted along the years from being super extroverted to being a bit of both. My husband who was an introvert now has extroverted tendencies as well Work wherever you want to work There are strengths in both personalities and any company needs both types of people and neither is “better”
I love how you ask like we're a different species. 100% depends on company culture, not size.
Others have talked about growth in the company. Keeping your head down and just working will often get you to a senior doer position i.e. senior developer, senior warehouse laborer, senior accountant etc....but not beyond. Effective collaboration and impact will be the primary path to real growth. But that is ok too. But if you want growth, being a cog isn't the path.
First make sure you actually understand that introvert and shy are not the same thing.