I have the opportunity to maybe get a job as a software developer at a small software company that employs 14 people. But my gut is telling me that getting a job at a small company like that might he terrible. Do you guys have any experiences working at companies that small?

In my mind, I imagine the CEO would have a very large presence at the company and everyone would feel a lot of pressure to appease him. I imagine that the whole company would just be a boys’ club. But I guess any company can be like that, so maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, and the size of the company isn’t actually related to company culture?

Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

EDIT: The company has been around for two decades

  • zod000
    8·
    9 months ago

    I’m in this exact situation now and have been for many years, while previously in a gigantic company…

    Pros:

    You (hopefully) tend to have significantly more influence on the tech stack and software direction. 

You're (hopefully) treated like a real person and not a cog in the corporate machine.

You (hopefully) get to learn and do a larger variety of things.

    Cons:

    Pay can be lower, and getting raises can be harder when you're talking directly to the CEO/Owner and it is quite literally coming out of his or her pocket.

Taking leave tends to be harder when there is so few people to pick up the slack.