Would you rather work for a large corporation or a small mom and pop style business?

I’ve done both and some in between. Definitely pros and cons like you said but really depends on the company.

Pro of large corp: typically benefits, and clear paths of promotion.

Con: politics can suck.

You also might have to change your username to make it in the large corporation world at some places.

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They generally don't have as good of pay/benefits in my experience but it's less of a stuffy corporate culture too.

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This is definitely the case for me. Very very relaxed work environment but then I feel like I am underpaid and there are basically no benefits.

Of course I'd rather work for a small mom and pop....but there are pros and cons to both.

Both

First get about +10 years experience with a large organization with structure. You can learn a lot about organizational leadership, budgeting and execution, resourcing, HR, legal, etc.

Then you can take all of that knowledge and experience to smaller organization that has less bureaucracy & politics.

I went from a Fortune 20 to a startup as the first hire that has now grown to 10 people.

It's a startup, but we were profitable from day one and taking on no funding/debt. It's been an awesome transition.

I would never go back to corporate after this experience. I think 50 employees or less is where I would stay. I do realize how easy it is for the people who don't do shite to hide in a big organization though. We had some people who could never cut it on small teams as they would get exposed.

In the restaurant business, smaller/mom and pop is almost never better. Unless you find a medium size company looking to go public, small restaurant companies are too volatile, offer little job security and way less benefits.

Small business conservative that never brought up the vaccine and would never fire you over it.

I started at a company with 240,000 employees and went to a company with 6,000. For me, that culture change was like going to a mom and pop based on the resources available (consulting).

Now I'm at one with about 15,000 folks but my group is only 250 or so.

I spent 11 years at a company with over 40k employees. No change to outdated processes, minimal room for growth because they’re afraid to fire toxic leadership for fear of getting sued. Top performers would get a 4% raise. Nearly 2 years ago I switched to a startup with less than 20 employees. I’ve been promoted twice and doubled my salary. It’s not for everyone though. If you like staying in your lane and doing just your job, a well-defined corporate structure is a safe bet. If you’re up for creating programs and processes and being the one to figure out something no one else knows how to do, then a small company would be more your speed. Just depends on the personality type.