Weekly Question
Q: Should you work for a startup if you're just starting out?
If you're just starting out in your software development career, my typical advice is to work with whoever is willing to hire you. Because as everyone knows, it is challenging to get hired when the 'Work Experience' section on your resume has a 'TBD' label on it.
But (there's always one but), it really depends on your financial, health and personal needs in life. Because most startups, can't offer the benefits that many of the bigger companies give out. And the ones that do, aren't guaranteed to offer them long term.
Startups spin up daily these days. They get funding from some VC firm and start to hire immediately. And 6 months down the line, many start to struggle with scaling and growth and potentially start to downsize. So you have to be comfortable with that going into it.
Also most startups don't have the resources to help you grow your skills, which is super important if you're new to the field. And by resources I mean other senior level developers that you'll probably meet with on a daily basis and that will help you with your work. And in that sense, startups are harder to work at, because you'll probably be given tasks that are far above your paygrade.
But knowing that instability, lack of resources and potentially a smaller paycheck are what might await you at a startup, I still recommend it for most that can handle it. Because on the other side of things, you're going to get something that most corporate employees typically won't ever get to see.
You'll get to see (and work on) every step of a product coming together from beginning to end. And that can make you a much more well-rounded developer in the longer scheme of things.
Have a question? You can submit it here and I might answer it in the next newsletter.
