Mar

4

Going from big company to small fries isn’t as easy as you’d think

Posted by Dan

March 4, 2009 |

You’d think that if you spent most of your career working for one of the biggest, most powerful and best known companies in your field that the smaller competitors in the same industry would welcome you with open arms if you came to them seeking work.

Well, in today’s topsy turvey economy, it doesn’t always work that way.

The Wall Street Journal recently wrote an interesting story about the challenges that workers who’ve been laid off at large companies are facing when they send their job applications to smaller firms. Turns out, the people at the smaller firms aren’t always so eager to work with employees who’ve spent years working for industry giants.

The reason? Smaller firms often worry that people who’ve spent the majority of their careers at large companies may be used to decisions being made slower, to more red tape being involved in every transaction. At smaller companies, decisions tend to be made at a faster rate. Employees have to be more flexible, and can’t be thrown by rapid changes.

The Wall Street Journal story highlights the case of a biologist who lost his job at pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in October. He was interested in a start-up company in the same field. The start-up, though, didn’t even interview the biologist. Its founders feared that a veteran of a large company wouldn’t be able to move fast enough.

This seems like a particularly sad story to me. You’d think experience at a major company would be a benefit. Again, though, nothing seems to make sense in today’s economy.


Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

<< Post Navigation >>

« « When you know your job is slipping away … | How to keep your job: Don’t be a jerk » »