As it is almost an year since the Pandemic caused a ripple in the usual career like many it was a see-saw of experiences, career days and job profiles since an year. Having worked with a few exciting start-ups; thought would advise as a one liner to all my friends on Linked in who have still not tried something exciting to join a start-up at least once in a life time; to experience a a bouquet of experiences for your next phase of career.
It is when you join a start-up you realize how to build and enhance your existing skills. Joining a start up is like joining a University for all the courses available here you join learn the concept and then define n refine your roles.
All the start-ups work on small sparks which are simple thoughts to simplify peoples lives so the scalability is too high and at times too tough to handle so at times for the real Power Hitters an yearly growth (in position and career )can equal the growth that a 5 year career can present.
The challenges and opportunities at a startup constantly change which means you are forced to adopt new skills, take on new projects, and will never be bound to a dull, boring routine. Morning you might have a meeting with the CEO for the high level strategy ,meeting for the next quarter and post noon might meet a client as a normal sales professional to detail about the product.
Enhance your patience, empathy and team building skills for your professional and personal lives the pressures at the office might help you to dilute some toughest days in your life.
Since most start-ups are small in size, you will have a chance to get to know your co-workers very personally and create a bond with everyone on the team. Working at a start-up is like being part of a close-knit family, where you can actually be yourself.
The usual practice of a start-up is that you get access to the founders who are at times a encyclopedia of ideas and experiences who are usually in accessible in a normal MNC . Also, expect to get a lot of exposure to the intricacies of the entire business operation.
Start-ups usually have a borderless office cabins ,which means basically the offices devoid of the usual cubicles both in literal and virtual terms of thought sharing process too. Here you have a more creative ambience which you might have seldom experienced in life.
Off course usually the pay check may not be as fatty as the normal MNC jobs but there is always an option for getting rewarded with sweat share for those who have sacrificed their personal interests and trusted their investors in the initial stages.
I am sure everyone in their career at some point thought in the first decade(or at times even later ) of the career are their thoughts reaching the right person and if it is reaching are they getting the credits of the ideas .Less layers to the Top Level Management means there is more of a chance for opinions to matter.
Get access to industry events, local meetups and build your professional contacts with like-minded professionals. This can go a long way when looking for recommendations or new career opportunities.
Working close to the investors in the start up you get a greater idea of the stress and pressures that investors go through in the initial phase of the project. Whereas In a venture which has been running a tried and tested concept the job responsibilities and roles are defined to a greater depth.
Start-ups allow the employees to discuss and disagree whereas normally it is executing tried and tested steps which have never gone wrong the Novelty itself gifts the employees to make valuable suggestions and steps to improvise the concept .
The experiences you gain while working in a start up would turn you into a true professional mentor .You could guide the coming generations on concept development, developing strategy, raising funds, Team sourcing, Building sustainable concepts presenting data and reports.
Many times in the later stages of the career we might have thought if we had the present experiences, skills and knowledge that you have presently How different it would have been your job execution if you had all this during your junior roles. At start ups you get just that you wanted switch roles and take up the role you like as at levels people are needed.
Last but most important you might at times work in the most passionate work environment as each on each level the passion to see the dream come true.