Image source: pexels.com

All the way through university peers tell you that your career should start in a large organization. It looks good on your CV, you make a steady paycheck and you can climb the career ladder. But by focussing only on all the big, well-known organisations you might be missing out on some excellent opportunities with SMEs. Did you know that 99% of all companies in Switzerland are SMEs? And that 2 out of 3 jobs are created by SMEs? Here are 3 reasons why small companies have big opportunities for you.

1. Your contribution is making an impact

Why be a small cog in a large machine when you can directly steer the machine? In small companies with flat hierarchies and fast decision-making processes, your contribution will be visible, and you will directly impact the success of the business. The increased visibility will also foster the overall team spirit as everyone must pull their weight.

2. Your career could accelerate exponentially

Your contribution is making a visible impact in your SME, so your responsibilities will grow early on in your career. Thanks to flat management structures you will get exposure to senior executives and really understand how every aspect of the business operates. Especially, in a startup-environment you will additionally accelerate your progress through the growth trajectory of the company. Just remember that Google and Amazon also once were SMEs. Imagine what kind of career its early employees enjoyed!

3. You are getting ready for the future of work

With the transition into a new world of human and machine collaboration under way, the future of work will hand an edge to job seekers and employees that can adapt fast over people with specific skill sets that may become obsolete. In an SME you will often juggle among different tasks and will continuously learn to adapt to new challenges and responsibilities, which is exactly the ability that the future job market is seeking most.

How to meet small companies with big opportunities

In the end, a great place to work at stands and falls with the company culture. A great way to learn whether a company is the right fit for you is to talk with its people in an informal setting—e.g. over lunch, coffee, or Zoom. To facilitate such informal meetings, CareerLunch and Swiss Life launched a platform together that allows you to connect with the “rising stars” among the SMEs. Check out the video below and book a free lunch with an SME here.