A start-up job may not necessarily offer you the same features as a reputed firm, but one cannot ignore the fact that it is a great platform to start your career. Read on to find out why...
So, you have been warned about working in a start-up.
The red alerts over the web tell you that the way ahead is perilous, and only the brave and/or utterly foolish can tread this path. But working for a start-up is not the career suicide it is made out to be.
It is, rather, professionally and personally, very rewarding.
Skeptical?
Check out what I learnt from observing the start-up scenario up-close and personal.
1. Be the change you wish to see
Nope, not trying to sound all lofty by quoting the Mahatma here.
What I mean is that in a start-up you are given the freedom to act.
You don't have to wait for a bureaucracy; you don't have to fear that you are breaking some sacrosanct tradition.
If you feel something can be done to improve how things are in office, or in the work methodology or, in the stuff you are working on (you get the drift), you have the freedom to change it.
You can take charge. If you can handle the responsibility, authority is yours.
2. Varied experience
You are not only encouraged to mingle with all the departments, but are expected to be an active participant in each.
There are no clear demarcations; all departments are just grey areas.
Doesn't matter what your expertise is, you can still learn from everybody, ask questions unabashedly and of course, look forward to the same from others!
3. Freaking fast!
In a start-up, everything happens really quickly. Since the number of decision makers is small, red tape is close to zero.
Have an idea? Share it with a couple of people, or have a discussion with the team.
If everyone likes it, it gets executed. As simple as that!
This is one of the most refreshing things about start-ups that there is no long-winding/unnecessary paperwork, no standing in queues for approval, and no running from one department to another.
4. Family of friends
Because there are fewer people, start-ups in general have a close-knit atmosphere.
People actually care about you and your well-being.
They know you inside out, just like your family.
They tease the hell out of you, just like a sibling.
They are proud of every little achievement of yours and overlook your minor deficiencies.
And just like a family, they stick by you through thick and thin.
5. Everyone has a dream
There are fresh ideas, there is fun, and there is a new way of looking at mundane. But there's something even more extraordinarily fantastic, and that is everyone in a start-up (well mostly everyone) has a dream.
At start-ups we still believe that we can change the world.
We are still naive enough to think that our ideas can revolutionise how things are.
We’re ambitious enough to dream bigger than the biggest billionaires we know.
We’re crazy enough to sit in single room apartments and think of what our penthouse view will be. And we are hopeful enough to feel there is a better tomorrow for humanity.
Seriously, it is this that makes working in a start-up worth it. Because you know you are working for a bigger cause.
Each person I've observed working in a start-up has a sparkle in their eyes, a spring in their step and a desire to get things done.
And I guess it is a combination of all that I said above that makes it so.
In a start-up, you get to see how great ideas begin and that itself is worth something, don't you think?
Photo Courtesy: Yourstory.com
