Tag Archives: hiring

     By Donna Fuscaldo

All businesses aren’t created equal. What may be normal for a small company could be strange for a large one. But when deciding where to work, those distinctions matter.

“There are a number of differences,” says Kathleen Downs, a recruiting manager at Robert Half International. “I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, but they are certainly different.”

From culture to job function, here’s a look at ten differences between working for a small firm and its larger brethren.

Getting the job

Even getting hired at a small business is different. According to Anita Campbell, Chief Executive of  Small Business Trends, chances are landing a job at a small business is going to be a much quicker process. “In large companies it’s not unusual to go through five, six even ten interviews before you are actually given a job,” she says.

The bigger the more bureaucratic

Everyone knows that when you work for a large company there are more hoops you have to jump through to get anything done. Small businesses, on the other hand, tend to have less bureaucracy, less organization and less complexity, says Kim Ruyle, vice president and managing principal at Korn/Ferry International. In a small business “it’s simpler to navigate the organizational maze to know who makes a difference,” says Ruyle. 

It’s a family affair

If you work in a large company, its likely you’ll only get to know the people you work with day in and day out. At a small company you’ll probably know everyone from the receptionist all the way up to the boss. “There’s going to be more personal relationships,” says Campbell. “If you get along then it may feel like a family, but on the other hand if you don’t get along, you don’t have the distance of a big company.”

You get to wear more hats

Working for a small business can give you much wider exposure to job functions, because everyone tends to wear more than one hat. For instance a comptroller in small company may have his or her hands in budgets, forecasting and creating financial statements while in a large company he or she may only be responsible for preparing financial statements, says Downs.

Better working conditions

Small businesses typically have less rules and thus more flexibility in the work life balance they offer. They know they can’t provide the same benefits that a large corporation can, so often times they will go out of their way to make the working conditions really good, says Campbell.

More specialization at large firms

At a large company you’ll get the chance to specialize and more fully develop a specific expertise or job function. If you want a career in the tax side of accounting that can be great, but according to Ruyle it may be less appealing to the person that’s seeking a broader perspective of the business.

Opportunities abound at big companies

Most of the time at a large company there’s more opportunities to grow. After all large companies typically have a structure in place to move up the career ladder. That doesn’t mean you will be stuck in a dead end job at a small firm. According to Ruyle manycompanies start out small only to grow into huge enterprises.

Exacting change

Many people go into a career not only to make money but to make a difference. Chances are much higher that you can affect change at a small firm. “A publicly traded company has documented processes and procedures for doing everything,” says Downs. At a small business things can “change on a dime,” she says.

Mission is more than the bottom line

Every business is created to make money, but at a small company it’s not only about pleasing shareholders. According to Phil Marsosudiro of management consulting company Marsosudiro & Company, at small companies the owners can have multiple goals. “A small business may have other priorities like the environmental benefits or other social benefits,” says Marsosudiro.

More job security

When you get a job at a small company, often times you are considered part of the family, so letting you go may not be as easy. It can be “painstaking,” for the small business owner, says Downs. “Sometimes at larger companies there will be a mandate from someone at the top that cuts will be this deep and they don’t know the people personally.”

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Donna Fuscaldo is a freelance journalist hailing out of Long Island, New York. Donna writes for numerous online publications including FoxBusiness.com, Bankrate.com, AARP.com, Insurance.com and Houselogic.com. As a personal finance reporter for years, Donna provides invaluable advice on everything from saving money to landing that dream job. She also writes a weekly column for FoxBusiness.com focused on technology for small businesses. Previously, Donna was an equities reporter for Dow Jones Newswires and a special contributor to the Wall Street Journal. Through the Glassdoor Blog, Donna will provide tips on how to find a job and more importantly keep it.

The Glassdoor Team is a small yet seasoned group of individuals looking to provide greater transparency into one of the most important aspects of our lives – our jobs. Contributions to the blog are designed to present a unique perspective on current events, offer commentary on the inside workings on specific jobs at a multitude of companies, and provide details on the latest happenings from within Glassdoor.

By Hank Stringer

I get calls from friends with children graduating from college who ‘need some help’ finding internships or permanent employment. Two of the recent students I have helped are interesting to me because of the assistance they receive from their university’s career placement, as well as the contacts from companies that have been coming their way.

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It is interesting to me because reviewing the backgrounds of the two students would lead one to believe these two would have ‘no problem’ finding the right employer, really one would think employers should be doing all they can to pursue them, but they aren’t. I have a couple of ideas as to why the situation is what it is and more importantly, have suggestions for students looking for internships or work aligned with career desires.

One of the students I am working with is a merit scholar at a university in the southwest and is studying to graduate with degrees in economics, philosophy and Latin American Studies. The other will graduate from a top engineering school in the southwest with a degree in aeronautical engineering and has a high GPA.

So these descriptions beg a couple of questions:

1. What do students do to find the right opportunity?
2. Why are HR organizations for companies not aware of these students?

Let’s take these one at a time and we will get to suggestions, so bear with me.

What it appears students do to find work…

The answer to the first is what most people looking for work do – they review websites for job/opportunity postings and submit their resume, and then what happens? Nothing – crickets chirp louder and why? Easy, companies don’t have the resources to manage inquiries and few executives understand the need and upside for making investments in talent acquisition through great relationship management. In the late 90’s, because of the Internet the future was described as one where companies would seek out and value talent relationships ahead of need…that HR would become strategic versus reactive and all in the world would be wonderful. Based on the discussions I’ve had with these students and others, we missed and we missed badly. Not only are students not finding work easily, they hear a negative outlook on the future of work, at a time when the reality is we have positions to fill in this country and companies complain the right talent is not available. For smart people, we are not solving this problem very effectively.

Why don’t companies build relationships with talent ahead of demand?

Resources are at a premium and few companies understand the value of searching out talent ahead of need and establishing a relationship of value. In the descriptions here every company that does business in Latin America should know every merit scholar studying Latin American studies and Economics at major universities in the US and around the world. They should have already established a relationship and begun a nurturing process for future need. There are not that many and it is not that difficult. Same can be said for the Aeronautic Engineering major but rather than reach out it appears companies and students sit back, use the Internet and wait.

Students and companies alike must think about standing out in the market by doing things differently than everyone else:

Network to establish personal relationships
Students – look to Glassdoor to understand how employees think of their employer
Companies – look to Glassdoor to see how employees think of you
For both – be different by thinking and acting strategic in your search for work or talent

We as students, employees and companies must do a better job of career relationship, transition and transaction. It is past time to get this right.

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Guest Blogger Hank Stringer is a member of the Glassdoor.com, Clearview Collection and CEO of Stringer Executive Search and Chief Strategist to Novotus – a professional recruiting agency. In 2006 he co-authored Talent Force:  A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. (Prentice-Hall. 2006) with fellow Clearview contributor Rusty Rueff. Hank’s experience includes founding Hire.com, an early Internet recruitment solution acquired by Authoria in 2005. He has also served as a senior recruiter for Dell Inc. and Tandem Computers.

The Glassdoor Team is a small yet seasoned group of individuals looking to provide greater transparency into one of the most important aspects of our lives – our jobs. Contributions to the blog are designed to present a unique perspective on current events, offer commentary on the inside workings on specific jobs at a multitude of companies, and provide details on the latest happenings from within Glassdoor.

By Meghan M. Biro

5  Trends for A New Year

I’ve talked before about personality-culture fit on Glassdoor,  and it hit a nerve with the community. Now that 2012 is here and hints of economic recovery are in the air, I’d like to look at five culture ‘musts’ organizations should adopt to attract job seekers as the market slowly improves.

It’s been difficult for organizations  to focus on culture fit with uncertain markets, wary consumers and business customers unwilling to make investments in new technologies or products. For job seekers it’s also been a challenge to put culture fit at the top of the list when just getting past a phone screen was near impossible.

But 2012 is supposed to be the year when the economy comes back, at least to 8 or 8.5 percent unemployment. Some of the money companies had on the sidelines is moving into play in the form of hiring, improvements to infrastructure to support employee productivity, and most importantly, refocusing efforts to improve upon or repair tarnished corporate cultures.

For organizations, it makes sense to start rebuilding a compelling company culture by looking at five key attributes of culture, which go way beyond a mission statement:

1. Culture is more than the personality of the workplace and its brand; it’s about the collective experience of working in that organization. Is your organization positive overall? If not, you have work to do.

1. Is your culture differentiated from the competitors’? Time to do that or face dropping sales and stepped-up employee attrition.

1. Do you use culture to attract and recruit talent? If the answer is no, it’s time for culture repair.

1. Are company values clear to all employee groups? If not, you won’t have alignment between line employees and strategic managers.

1. Are employees compensated fairly and competitively? Include health and other benefits in this review; compensation and benefits reveal how well a company treats its employees, one of the keystones of culture.

Because a company’s culture attracts and recruits and retains talent, which is differentiating, assessing your culture early in the year will not only help you learn why employees stay, but also what job seekers are looking for as they plan their next career move.

If you’re a job seeker, look for these five culture red flags – it’s a quick way to sort the great companies from the good or merely adequate:

• Does the company have a mission statement? Does it include reference to strategic vision, the role of the company in the broader market, and how the company views and treats employees?
• Does the company have programs which prove they value their employees? From employee of the month awards to bonuses and recognition on social media channels, demonstrating respect for the role employees play in the success of a company is an indicator of a positive culture.
• Does the company have high turnover? Check on Glassdoor, LinkedIn and other social media sites to learn what others think. If possible find out average tenure.
• Do your values match those of the company?  This one can be answered by researching online and talking with several employees.
• Does the company invest in growth - both employee and productivity? How long has it been since the website was updated? Look on the Wayback Machine for changes. Chat with employees via social sites and ask how the company invests in their growth and success.

I hope 2012 sees resurgence in companies investing in corporate culture. In my view, it will be the differentiating factor in retention and hiring in the New Year.

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Meghan M. Biro, founder of TalentCulture, is a serial entrepreneur and globally recognized career expert in talent acquisition and creative personal and corporate branding. Meghan has conducted more than 300 successful career searches for clients ranging from Fortune 500s to the most innovative software start-up companies. Meghan is also a new media strategist who enjoys accelerating collaborative business and community goals. When not recruiting, blogging, and innovating, she manages a dynamic coaching practice to empower corporate leaders, mid-level managers, software technologists, and recent college graduates. Meghan is a member of the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS), The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and several entrepreneurial organizations. She serves on the Alumni Council for Greens Farms Academy, acting as a career mentor to high school and college students. Founder and co-host of “#TChat, The World of Work,” a long-running, weekly Twitter chat and radio show, Meghan’s ideas have appeared on Forbes, CBS Moneywatch and she blogs regularly at Monster, The 12 Most, Ragan’s HR Communication and several additional online destinations of note.

The Glassdoor Team is a small yet seasoned group of individuals looking to provide greater transparency into one of the most important aspects of our lives – our jobs. Contributions to the blog are designed to present a unique perspective on current events, offer commentary on the inside workings on specific jobs at a multitude of companies, and provide details on the latest happenings from within Glassdoor.