Once you’ve finished your coding bootcamp, you’ll be keen to find a job. The good news is that tech jobs are in high demand. According to a recent report from IT and networking company Cisco and market intelligence firm IDC, reported in Business Insider, the global economy by 2027 will have added more than five million jobs in information technology. With all these job opportunities around, what kind of companies do coders work for and what are the implications for coders?
According to the 2018 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, which analysed responses from 101,592 developers from 183 countries around the world, software developers work in a diverse range of industries, including media, finance, technology, healthcare, etc. And although they work in companies of all sizes, from small to very large enterprise organisations, most US software developers work in larger companies (compared with the rest of the world). More experienced developers are more likely to work at bigger companies – for example, a developer with 30 years of experience is twice as likely to work at an organisation with more than 5000 employees than someone with only 2 years of experience.
Here’s a breakdown of the percentage of developers at differently-sized companies.
Image Source: https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018/#work-company-size
What kind of companies do coders work for? It seems all kinds, but what are the relative advantages (and disadvantages) of working for these different companies?
Large Companies
Large companies offer the following advantages (or disadvantages), depending how you view these characteristics.
- Generally, these are successful companies – that’s how they became large in the first place. This provides job security and a reliable income.
- There’s a potential to learn a lot, because there are likely to be people there who really know the systems at work and are experienced.
- You become part of a large community of people and this can be of value in future networking.
- Perks – some perks can be quirky or unusual like access to a company yacht, in-office yoga and massages, communal workout sessions and group cooking classes.
The pace tends to be slower and less risky. One of the biggest differences between working at a larger company versus a startup or smaller firm is the ‘rate at which things change,’ explains an article in Medium. At a large company you’ll likely to do the same set of tasks until you’re promoted. The job description is pretty clearly mapped out, which makes the work fairly repetitive and predictable.
What about startups? What is it like to work at one of those? Read on to find out.
Startups: What Can You Expect?
Even if the stability and salaries are likely to be lower, startups and smaller companies offer definite benefits including:
- In general, the smaller the startup, the more frequently you’ll be taking on new responsibilities. This makes it easier for you to prove yourself and move up the ladder, because there is less competition from peers.
- You’ll work more closely with senior management.
- If you have an idea or a proposal, it’s more likely to be taken on board. Basically, you’re more likely to steer the direction of the company and this gives you a sense of ownership in your work and that of the team. In addition, a startup is more likely to pivot (i.e. when the business model is not working and the team then pivots to Plan B).
- Money is likely to be tight at startups. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because you’ll learn to be frugal, a vital business skill. You’ll find meaning in creating rather than consuming.
- Interesting, millennials tend to thrive in startups – perhaps because the atmosphere tends to be more casual and the hours more flexible.
- On the downside, the workload can be heavier, because startups need to move quickly and there aren’t other people to take your place if you’re not around – stress and burnout are real possibilities.
In closing, what kind of companies do coders work for? All sorts. That is perhaps the best thing about becoming a developer: the multiple work environments and options available out there. If you’re interested in learning coding skills, check out one of HyperionDev’s six month, online coding bootcamps in Full Stack Web Development, Mobile Development and Software Engineering. You can try out any of these courses for a free trial before upgrading.
