Jobseekers are increasingly looking to small businesses as potential employers, believing them to be an exciting place to lend their professional expertise and grow their careers. What do small businesses offer that large companies fail to provide? First, small businesses naturally gravitate towards a team-oriented culture and a sense of community. Because we spend so much of our time at work, there is tremendous value in providing an engaging and pleasant working environment. It gives employees the sense that they are part of something larger. (Even if that "something larger" is actually quite small.) In a recent study, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, reported that Americans spend approximately 8.8 hours per day in working-related activities. When you consider the other factors examined (7.6 hours per day sleeping and a combined total of 7.6 hours per day doing everything else, from eating to exercising), you realize that, on average, we spend over one third of our day at work. With employees investing that much time into a single activity (an activity which takes us away from family, home, hobbies and travel, no less), it is important to offer them an agreeable, collaborative environment.
Secondly, working in a small business generally means that it's "all hands on deck" when it comes to the division of labor -- and that equates to greater professional development and exposure. Sure, everyone has their job and specific responsibilities, but the borders are less defined. A staff accountant, for example, may be asked to coordinate and oversee the year-end audit. This is an opportunity for the staff accountant, a relatively low figure on the totem pole, to manage a side project and lead the business's relationship with their external auditor. A large company would likely have a project manager or CFO lead the external audit, and the staff accountant would remain in their functional silo and miss out on the opportunity to expand their capabilities.
Amidst the shadow of "too big to fail" banks actually failing and multiple rounds of mass layoffs at household name companies, small business have dispelled the myth that big companies provide the best job security -- and smart jobseekers have taken note! Two years ago, Julia, a graduate recruiter at Lehman Brothers in New York City, suddenly found herself unemployed and out of a job. Despite a successful track record at other global brands such as JP Morgan and UBS, she found it virtually impossibe to secure another job in a similar organization. Only after Julia began looking at smaller finance firms did she begin to get job offers. In fact, she got two! These smaller businesses saw the value in her experience and recognized that she was a great fit for their team. In return, Julia saw a company that would allow her to take on new projects, avoid the red tape bureaucracy she had contended with in larger organizations and, maybe, even stop working 75 hour weeks. The moral of this story? A big company is not always better. It's the big opportunity that should concern jobseekers!
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