You’ve graduated with a prestigious degree, and your years and years of education finally came to an end – it’s time to step into society!
Credit: Mundi Pharma
Most of you would most likely go for a stable, entry-level position at a MNC or some other sort of large corporation. The prospects seem exciting, and you can totally picture yourself moving up the hierarchy in the next few years and eventually having your own room with a great scenery to boot.
That’s the best case scenario, but times are hard. The economy is unstable, many companies are retrenching or at least on a hiring freeze and you feel stuck. Instead of obsessing over your job application to a Fortune 500 company for the entire year before deciding to move on, why not try working at a Singaporean startup?
Startups are mushrooming in Singapore as we speak. Millennials seek a greater purpose to create and innovate, and the opportunities are exciting and endless. If you think that startups are ‘unstable’, just take a look at companies like Zalora, Shopback, Choo Yilin, Carousell, Ninja Van, MyRepublic; you get the drift.
Everyone should work at a startup at least once, and here are some reasons why.
1. Lively Work Environment
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Most startup owners or at least the environment is young, vibrant and practically a breeding ground for creativity. You can practically bathe in zeal and possibilities, and get to do cool stuff like playing foosball with your colleagues or drinking beer at 4pm with your bosses.
The lack of hierarchical structure also enables open communication – problem solving is so much easier when you can simply walk up to your bosses and speak your mind or bounce crazy ideas (and not get judged).
Also, no one cares if you wear jeans, pyjamas or a clown’s suit (most of the time), as long as you get the work done.
2.Value-adding Skillsets
Credit: Choo Yilin
Due to the lack of manpower and resources in a small company, you might have to do a lot of things that were not included in your job scope. There’s no cleaner auntie that helps to clean your area, no admin executive to manage your invoices and courier arrangements and so forth, and therefore everything is pretty much DIY. Some people might scorn this at first, but being a do-it-all is a steep but great learning curve and definitely adds value to your resume.
Being in a start-up makes you more independent and versatile, nurtures discipline and challenges your ability to solve problems with the limited resources you have. These are all leadership traits that even large corporations look for, if you eventually decide to head that way in future.
3. Work Recognition
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From experience, work credit gets snagged easily from your supervisor or co-worker in a large company. But within a closely-knitted startup environment, your achievements and great work will be clearly visible and startup bosses are not as stingy with their praises. If the company’s profits are soaring, well, there are even opportunities for profit-sharing if the founders deem you worthy. More importantly, career progression is a lot faster and a leadership role might just be waiting for you in a mere one or two years of working at a startup.
4. Having a Cool Designation
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Fancy calling yourself a ‘Growth Hacker’ or ‘Marketing Superhero’? ‘Geek Brigade Commander’ will sound totes catchier than simply ‘Manager, Information Technology’. This way, even the most boring-sounding jobs can seem interesting. Some startups have the coolest designations and It’ll definitely be a nice conversation starter, whether its among your friends or even future employers.
5. Work-Life Balance
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It’s an elusive concept where everyone has a unique interpretation, but chances are, you will be able to live more of your life (and especially youth) in a start-up type of environment. No doubt that startup people are definitely more passionate and you will end up working at 2am due to your boss’s bright idea (which was cooked up in the toilet at probably 11.30pm), but the structure, or rather non-structure, does not compel you to a 9-6 working day.
You might be able to do yoga at 3pm to avoid the evening crowd, and choose not to squeeze through the MRT human traffic during peak hours. You might even be able to pursue hobbies! The lack of structure might not work for everyone and it takes discipline to manage your own time and get things done, but this learning curve will be a good one for personal growth.