Should you work for a large or small tech company?

During my corporate years as a programmer I have worked in small companies of 6 people to medium organizations of 50 to large tech companies with 100's of programmers. And they have all had their pros and their cons, as does anything. But one of these has substantially more pros than cons in my book.

Most people think that my answer to this question is either small company or an up and coming startup. Much of this probably has to do with the way that startups are portrayed on TV shows, with fridges full of food and treadmill desks. Not that these things aren't fun or useful, they very well could be. But believe me, they get old relatively fast.

A few cons with small companies that I have faced throughout the years are as follows:

- Smaller budgets
- Tighter deadlines
- Less architecture
- Less programmers to learn from

Essentially. They are smaller in almost every way. Which if you are trying to climb a corporate ladder or really just advance your skillset quickly, these things will not help you out in any way.

My corporate structure of choice here is to go for a larger tech corporatin whenever you can.  Not only do they have incredibly large budgets, which equates to job security, but also, you might be surrounded by hundreds of other developers that you can bounce ideas off of, go to lunch with and learn from.

Big budget also means more innovation in terms of technology. Some of the most advanced hardware and software that I have encountered have been at large companies, and getting to work with them has been a huge quantum leap forward in my career and my skillset.

Will you be just another cog in the wheel? This is the one area that most think about when considering working for a company with a name like Tecknicorp, or what have you. In a sense, sure, there are hundreds if not thousands of developers, designers and engineers working at these companies. If you left, the system will do just fine and will be able to continue functioning.

This isn't a bad thing really. You will have a team that is relying on your work and you will get to work on something that potentially reaches millions of people per year. So in a sense, you are a very important gear in a clock. But if you were to leave, a mechanism would ensure that a new gear was put right away.

My answer here however is really geared more towards those looking to increase their knowledge and skillsets and their professional network in a relatively short time.

But there is something to be said for a smaller corporate sector if these things aren't a concern for you.

I will cover that in more detail on a future question!