Re: Corporate World vs. Small Company: Considerations?

[Jefro <jefro -at- jefro -dot- net>]

I would advise care, and a very honest assessment of your financial 
picture in these uncertain times.  I made this decision eight years ago, 
and while I don't regret it for a second, there are pitfalls of which I 
was not aware.

For me it was based on not commuting at all.  I had a baby at home and 
wished to telecommute, but the boss I had wasn't into it.  I went from 
one large company to another in a different city, moved the whole 
family, took a 20% pay *raise* and telecommuted 2 days a week. 

Not being satisfied, two years later I switched to a small startup 
company (same salary) that would allow me to telecommute full-time.  We 
moved about 2 hours outside the city, and then a year later found our 
"dream small town" and moved again... now 4 hours outside the city.   I 
got a pilot's license and flew in for meetings when I needed to, maybe 
once a quarter.  The rest of the time I sat at home, wrote 
documentation, and lived my life in a rural area making top wages. 

A year ago I was courted by another startup, mostly the same folks I had 
been working with for 5 years who were starting a new company.  Another 
big raise, pre-IPO stock options, etc.  Same working conditions.  Life 
was good for a year.  However, as of August, the new company is on the 
skids and laid off 60% of the payroll, including me.  Sinking ship.  
Prior company doesn't need my services any more; they were a little 
upset when I left to join the defectors last year. 

So now I find myself 4-5 hrs drive from all realistic job opportunities, 
with a big mortgage (we remodeled two years ago) and most companies 
simply not responding to my resume.  The ones who do respond are reading 
from top to bottom, and at the top they see my zip code.  I am realizing 
quickly that I will have to take an apartment in the city and spend most 
of the week down there if I want a job in this industry at all.

I didn't want this to be a sob story, but a warning that you MUST take 
the whole picture into account.  Things can change quickly, and small 
companies can go bellyup in a blinding flash, no matter how promising.  
If you have made lifestyle changes to accommodate or to take advantage 
of the small company situation, it may be much harder to go back to the 
larger company if you find the need in a couple of years.

IF I HAD BEEN SMART---I still would have taken the small-company jobs, 
not for the pay raises but for the working conditions.  I got to spend 
my son's early childhood in the same house with him instead of on the 
highway wishing I were home, and now I have a track record to show I can 
effectively work from home, so that when the tide turns again I can set 
up the same situation.  However, I would have been **saving** instead of 
remodeling (and traveling, and buying an airplane, <insert 
things-I-did="wrong"/>).  I would have put six months' salary into the 
bank instead of into the house.  I would have kept very, very current on 
the technologies I knew then, rather than letting them languish.  It 
pays to remember that even when the waters are calm, you are still in a 
small boat floating in a vast sea.  (Or some other appropriate metaphor.)

Apologies for the length of this, I hope it is instructive (or at least 
entertaining) to someone!

Jefro


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