I've been toying around with an idea for months and I decided to come to this forum to get some feedback.
There are plenty of WSO users that went to target schools and had the world's best on campus recruiting. There are also plenty of users who went to non-target schools and have really struggled/are struggling to find a relevant job today.
For those who have struggled my question to you is simple: would you work for a small company in your area of interest? If you can't land your dream job at Goldman Sachs would you prefer it over a less than relevant job at a big company? Do you feel like you have access to small companies today?
First time poster so go easy on me. Your thoughts on this topic are very much appreciated.
What do you mean by small? In terms of assets? Employees? Global reach? Still in its infancy?
It would depend on the growth potential of the company and the quality of the people there. If it was a newer firm started by some really sharp guys who've had previous success then that could be a fantastic opportunity to get in ground floor on something that could be huge. In that situation it's a gamble with big potential upside.
If it was a small company that had been around for a while without leaving a mark and producing any notable growth, I would be much more hesitant. In that situation I would opt for a less relevant job at a bigger company where there is the opportunity to work hard, make connections, get the big name and move laterally.
Of course, the best course of action in this situation will depend on someone's personal ambitions.
@SATRADING thanks for the response. I don't want to define "small company" two narrowly as a small consulting firm is drastically different than a small manufacturing firm. I'll define it further by saying "too small to consider any meaningful on-campus recruiting".
That added definition doesn't really help. There are a number of firms, primarily VC/PE/HF that are small and specialized and have little to no on-campus presence that one might be willing to chop off a body part to get in to. Without further clarifications of the parameters there's not much that can be said.
There are a lot more variables than the nebulous scenario you displayed above.
Are there cases where I would go to a "smaller" company to do exactly what I want vs. being a janitor at a "larger" company? of course.
Are there cases where I would take a mediocre job at a prestigious "larger" company vs. an ok job at a total no name "smaller" company? Probably.
Point being - you need to give more information if you want quality advice.
I'm going to assume you mean a small, relatively crappy firm but in a role you are passionate about. The answer is no. Not for now. But maybe when I'm 28.
Typical of finance folks to get lost in the fine print of "defining a small company". Just think of the damn phrase as you would in day to day conversation.
As for the OP's query, I'm doing it right now. Working in a boutique PE shop right out of undergrad (I hold an equivalent of CPA with equal emphasis on finance). I've said this before on WSO and I'm saying it again - forget what you know about "gaining more exposure" and "making an impact". Practically, if you can't handle the environment of working in a startup/small company, exposure and impact are not gonna mean shit to you at the end of the day.
By environment, I'm not talking about culture, but about not having some of the basic facilities/infrastructure that most people take for granted. If the company is small enough, there's no IT department, or the whole IT dept consists of 1 guy who may or may not be available. So when your network connectivity goes down for some reason, you're left looking for answers on Google on your phone. Running errands. Doing admin and managerial work that analysts in BB's wouldn't know even exists. All of this comes with working in a small company.
As for the pros, yes, you do get better exposure, more responsibilities, and perhaps more autonomy. And if it is your dream job, all the better. So these factors are great, but like I said, if you can't handle the above mundane things, you're gonna be too irritated to care.
And regarding the other option, joining a big company in a less than relevant position - if you're good enough to land a job at a big enough company, say a BB, odds are you're good enough to leverage the network that you will gain to jump to a better profile sooner or later (as long as you don't give in completely and become an accountant).
Ultimately, if it comes to joining a dream profile in a small company vs. a so-so profile at GS, consider the above factors long and hard before you make a decision.
The above is not a rant, just an attempt to try and make more people understand and evaluate this part of the equation. Bring on the monkey shit.
Amen.
I'm in talks with my previous firm about a potential FT role. I'm in a shitty part of finance now; this role would be in a completely different industry.
Hi, I agree with CAinPE except on one point. I work in a small CF boutique in oil and gas. I do admin tasks in the office, making contacts in government and local authorities (planning etc.) and doing more standard corporate finance work (spreadsheet modelling, getting the buy-side involved).
More responsibilities; you really have to take ownership of your own work - from the first day, your bosses trust you to be able to some basic tasks like writing a proper cover letter and spreadsheet modelling.
What I disagree on is about internally moving from one department to another in a big company. If you join as a treasury customer service officer say at BoA (you deal with corporate customers), it won't be a walk in the park to move to a treasury sales role and it will be really really hard for you to move to any IBD teams there.
You have to open-minded when you join a big company - they might make you move around.
Even if you join some IBD team, they might make you do tedious tasks that no one wants to do - and you don't get much chance of developing skills that you need to succeed as an investment banker (such as reviewing spreadsheet models produced by companies in the industry or other sell-side teams). In a big firm, there are so many departments and teams that not many people even inside the firm don't know what they do - there is a valuation (kind of like quants) team in IBD at GS (for example). I have no idea what they do. Surely, you don't need quants to calculate the cost of capital - I just add some percentage points to the cost of debt (which tends to be easier to find)!
Being in a big company, you don't get this urgency of "you eat what you kill." At the analyst and associate levels (in a big firm), you do what you are told. Some become complacent, others just do 3 - 4 years as an analyst and move on to do something else. You would be surprised - when you work in a boutique, you have to project-manage a deal from origination to closing. It is not uncommon to meet top performers from a tire 1 bank who have completed the analyst programme (so 3 years) but can't even write properly.
In a smaller company, you must be a contributing factor to keep your place there. In a small CF boutique (with 5 - 6 CF specialists and 3 - 4 analysts), you need to be very proactive. You get a more balanced life style though.
Upside of working in a big firm is the salary and job security (obviously).
Hope this helps.
I'm currently at a 12 man shop in the valuation division. In the time that I've been here I would agree with most points already stated:
Much more responsibility (associate level work) Broad exposure Administrative aspects (though quite a bit of it is useful)
However the culture is not that great, team dynamics are poor and the firm isn't looking to grow. I couldn't get into a BB so I took this gig. I feel like this experience is more valuable in some ways than working at a BB. But as Cain said, it DOES suck not having some of the basics that you guys at BB have. But that's where the double-edged element comes in.
I think its a good place to end up in after a couple of years of experience or more. But unless you'll be working with a badass group, I would not jump into a small firm straight out of college.
I work at a boutique firm doing IBD and if you're interested in my $0.02 - take the job in the field you want to be involved in. It will be way harder to go from doing wealth management at a BB to IBD at a BB, than to move up from a Boutique to a BB (if you even decide that's what you want).
You can argue the benefits of small vs. big all day long. I happen to think the benefits of a small bank don't quite add up to those of a big bank - but this is highly dependent on what your longer term goals are in finance. Some major benefits is a much broader exposure from a young age. I can honestly say I was performing associate level tasks on my deal team within just a few months of working at my IB. Also if you work your ass off and are smart, people at the top can see it easily, and you may even start to get economics for yourself from deal closes (and boy is that nice).
PM me if you want more details of Boutique vs. BB IBD.
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