<p>Pretty sure there has been a thousands threads with the same question but I thought I'd ask anyways. I also didn't feel like bringing old threads from the dead.</p>
<p>Which pay more on average?
If you were to start off at a small firm would you be able to move to a bigger one? Basically is it likely to get hired by Boeing or Lockheed from some random firm.
What develops you better as an engineer?</p>
<p>Bigger company will probably pay more in cash, but a smaller company might give more in stock.</p>
<p>Yes, you’d be able to move from a smaller firm to a bigger one (and vice versa).</p>
<p>Both are probably important experiences for an engineer.</p>
<p>Niche-industry type will also determine if there is a difference between a big company and small company. Right now (and for the last 6 or 7 years), the No Such Agency has really allowed small companies to flourish. Since they have less overhead, those small companies have been able to pay more and give better benefits than the bigger companies. The type of small companies include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Veteran-Owned</li>
<li>Minority-Owned</li>
<li>Woman-Owned</li>
<li>A combination of the above</li>
</ul>
<p>While the big companies are still the “prime” contractors, many small contractors are on the big contracts and are paying competitive salaries and benefits.</p>
<p>What field of engineering are you in?</p>
<p>At a small company, you have more exposure to high-level decisions, more exposure to executives. You have opportunities to advance upwards to leadership/project lead more readily. You typically get more stock but less pay, which can pay off if the company is successful and goes public. Typically you get to know more of the management.</p>
<p>At a bigger company, you will likely get more “breadth” exposure to different types of projects. (Typically a small company will only have 1-2 products).</p>
<p>IMO, a smaller company is worth it, and if it doesn’t work out, you can always go to a big company. You’re young, and now is the time to take risks with your career. If/when you have a family, and want to save for retirement, then you want stability.</p>
<p>As a counter:</p>
<p>
The executives that you have exposure to in small companies are usually not that executive - there is a world of difference between the vice-presidents of a multinational and that of a 10-person start-up even if they have the same titles. I worked for a small companies where more than half the full-time employees were vice-presidents, and could have done with a lot less exposure to “management”.</p>
<p>Likewise, advancement can vary tremendously between companies, especially small ones. Many small companies are pretty static unless they blow up, and that can mean a long time without a promotion. Conversely, large companies tend to be more stratified but also more dynamic - your minimum time to promotion may be more rigidly fixed, but at least it is consistently possible. </p>
<p>
Yes and no - while a bigger company may have more products, they are also have more need for specialists. Small companies are usually much better at instilling breadth than large companies in my experience.</p>
<p>As to which is better, it depends a lot on the person. A smaller company is a bigger risk with bigger potential reward, but if you stay too long without really showing something it can get really hard to get out into a better position. A bigger company is safer and usually more lucrative, but is not going to have that kind of jaw-dropping growth that makes humble engineers multi-multi-millionaires.</p>
<p>^My knowledge primarily stems from my siblings’s software CS work with a computing semi-developed startup (its products are sold to companies/govt, not individuals). Anyways, my other sibling works at a big, well-known computer company.</p>
<p>There are differences, but they are not extraordinary. My sibling at the small company does sometimes see a well-known venture capitalist, and also once or twice has (or had?) the opportunity to meet the current CEO, a former vice president of a large multinational corporation. My sibling gets paid less than 80k (would have received 100k+ at a company like Microsoft), but gets a decent sized amount of stock (potentially worth millions if the company gets a billion dollar valuation).</p>
<p>My other sibling works at a single business unit, among hundreds of other engineers, getting paid very well in salary, but with few stock options.</p>
<p>I agree that the breadth/depth differences are not that important. The day-to-day work is very similar.</p>
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<p>Could someone translate this into English? It sounds like interesting info, but I can’t decipher exactly what GT is trying to say.</p>
<p>Try interning with both types and see which one is more suitable for you. Experience before you get out of school is the best way to mold your career path.</p>
<p>No Such Agency = NSA = National Security Agency (government agency).</p>
<p>The companies he listed are 8(a) companies, a program the Small Business Administrtion (another government agency) uses to help minority/women/veteran owned businesses get government contracts.</p>
<p>The prime contractors are the behemoths like Lockheed, General Dynamics, etc etc. For any given project, they and the agency they’re working with will sub out lots of parts to smaller companies. They don’t necessarily want to hire a hundred IT guys to support a large project and then lay them all off (and pay unemployment); also, they usually get incentives for bringing on littler companies. So when those projects end, everyone working for say, CSC, gets laid off and has to fight to get onto another project. Whereas if you were a specialist working for one of the small subs, you still have a job. This is a gross oversimplification and does not apply to all bajillion contracts/projects - I’m just trying to help translate.</p>
<p>Out of college, a bigger firm is generally a better way to go. You will get more training and support and it will look better on your resume. Smaller firms tend to prefer candidates that have big firm experience on their CVs.</p>
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<p>I think you’re assuming all small companies are gunning for an IPO. I know my mom’s spent her whole career as an engineer with small, privately owned companies, and there was never a chance anyone there even thought becoming the Next Big Thing. They were places that did stuff like glass fixtures, large flow systems, pet products, and specialty scientific equipment. In general, I’d say her compensation package has been worse than at major companies, there’s always been considerably more of a concern about the company going under if it doesn’t meet its sales goals, threat of being bought out by a competitor, and terrible management by the heads of some companies.</p>
<p>That said, the smaller companies have been more flexible with vacation time, her needing “flextime” type stuff to help take care of family, and all those sorts of things.</p>
<p>
Took the words right out of my mouth… I second this too.
Not to mention having a big company experience on your CV will look good (relatively compared to a smaller mom and pop company) if you ever decide to go for a top mba program.</p>
<p>In terms of one’s own professional development, I believe a smaller firm is better. With larger firms, there’s a greater tendency for them to pigeon-hole you and you may or may not get the “bigger picture.” I was an intern at a consulting engineering firm years ago, and some of the engineers with only minimal experience were running projects from the marketing/proposal stage all the way to the final report/presentation.</p>
<p>For bigger firms there are alot of rotation programs that allow you to work in different departments for a couple of months each. They just aim to help you in learning the different aspects of the company and not to be productive. The salaries are very good in big firms and it is always pay you on time with tons of benefits. Someone here says that smaller firms are more flexible, but for me the bigger firms are flexible too as the work hours are self determined and they are very generous in giving holidays because there is always someone to work on your stuff temporarily while you are away.</p>
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<p>Agreed. It’s just enough time to learn how the different departments come together. At the end of the program though, you will only work in one of them.</p>
<p>So would a smaller company/firm pay for your relocation as an intern? </p>
<p>Would you have to work at the HQ when you first start off working at a big company/firm?</p>
<p>A smaller company (box.com) paid to fly me to San Francisco for a day of internship interviewing. If they were willing to do that, I’m sure they would have provided relocation benefits. They might be the exception, of course, but I doubt it.</p>
<p>A lot of job postings at bigger companies are for specific locations (not necessarily the HQ, although there might be some sort of orientation there).</p>
<p>How exactly do you guys determine whether you like the company or not?</p>
<p>I’ve been on trips to Pratt and Sikorsky and liked what I saw them doing but how do you determine if you would actually like being there?</p>
<p>
Your terminology does not match here - an internship is not a permanent position, so relocation is not valid. Most small companies will pay for at least some of your relocation, but perhaps not as much as a large company will. My employer, definitely a large company, was extremely generous with reolcation and I doubt many small companies could pull that off.</p>
<p>
It varies between companies. I certainly know engineers who entered my company at the same time that I did who nonetheless started in a branch location.</p>
<p>
No exact formula - what matters to you? Some people can handle ANY job so long as it provides the money and free time to do what they like, other people will work for peanuts in a horrible location if it is doing something that they really want to do. I liked nearly everything about my employer and nearly nothing about the other offer I received, so I had it really easy.</p>
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Probably the best way is to tour the facility, meet some of the people you would presumably be working with, and try to talk privately and in confidence with some of your prospective peers - recent hires in similar positions who can tell you what it is REALLY like. I cannot be more specific without knowing what your concerns are.</p>
<p>Well I read on some forums that a company will pay to have you live in the state they hired you for as a intern. All I meant by relocation was just whether they’d pay for your stay in the state outside of your state? I mean reasonable like NY to CA.</p>