Stay at company or go to start-up

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seippelk: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 7; Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 4:40 pm

by seippelk » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:24 pm

I am a Software Engineer working for a Fortune 100 company for the last 1.5 years (this was my first job out of college although I did have a couple internships). I am starting to look into business schools and the process of applying in the next couple years and I have a question.

My plan after business school is to start working for and/or building my own Tech Startup. My question is, would switching to work for a startup in the next 6-12 months hurt or help my B-School resume. The pro's I see is that I could get more leadership experience (because I am having trouble finding opportunities at a large company while only being here for a short time) and additional unique experience to put on the resume. Some con's I see is that a startup might not look as good as a big company that everyone knows and that maybe people would see me leaving a company after only 2 years as a "red flag".

I want to leave and work for a startup but I also do not want to hurt my chances of getting into a good B-School. Thanks for the help and any input would help!

Source: Beat The GMAT — The Application Process | Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:24 pm

kriti87: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 61; Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:24 amFollowed by: 2 members

by kriti87 » Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:34 pm

seippelk wrote:I am a Software Engineer working for a Fortune 100 company for the last 1.5 years (this was my first job out of college although I did have a couple internships). I am starting to look into business schools and the process of applying in the next couple years and I have a question.

My plan after business school is to start working for and/or building my own Tech Startup. My question is, would switching to work for a startup in the next 6-12 months hurt or help my B-School resume. The pro's I see is that I could get more leadership experience (because I am having trouble finding opportunities at a large company while only being here for a short time) and additional unique experience to put on the resume. Some con's I see is that a startup might not look as good as a big company that everyone knows and that maybe people would see me leaving a company after only 2 years as a "red flag".

I want to leave and work for a startup but I also do not want to hurt my chances of getting into a good B-School. Thanks for the help and any input would help!

I think it would be great if someone could resolve our concerns.

Thanks.

GMAT Kolaveri: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 287; Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:33 amFollowed by: 6 members; Location: Pune,India; Thanked: 60 times

by GMAT Kolaveri » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:03 pm

Both the options have their pros and cons

Startup:
Pros: more exposure, more challenges, more learning,better recognition
Cons: cant learn management processes such as Change management, Service Management, Client management,...limited roles,

Big organization:
Pros: learn management styles and techniques, recognition in the profile (clearly a known name on the profile is better than an unknown name), more roles and responsibilities to take up,

It all depends upon the kind of effort one puts in. You can get recognized even in a bigger organization.

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Jon@Admissionado: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 3135; Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 amFollowed by: 332 members; Location: Everywhere; Thanked: 589 times

by Jon@Admissionado » Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:29 pm

A really good question. I would say it depends on the timing a bit. I mean if you are planning on applying next year, four or six months at a startup is not gonna be enough to really get anything done (unless you are already halfway there). And you know, if you are simply working on a startup for four months alone in a room without having gotten investement, I don't know how impressive that will look (I'm talking here about CHANCES), if you do have enough time to get things done so you can show results, well then, that's a whole different ballgame.

But at the same time I do realize that this isn't simply a MBA application choice but a life choice... meaning is this the right time for YOU? for like a million other reasons? And well, only you know the answer to that... and timing IS important.

Food for thought...

Last edited by Jon@Admissionado on Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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seippelk: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 7; Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 4:40 pm

by seippelk » Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:02 am

I would be at the start-up for longer than that, I am not planning on applying until 2014. Would only staying at my current company for 1.5-2 years get me dinged? Should I stick it out for a little longer and try to be here for 2-2.5 years? Thanks for the reply.

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Jon@Admissionado: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 3135; Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 amFollowed by: 332 members; Location: Everywhere; Thanked: 589 times

by Jon@Admissionado » Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:38 am

Well neither going for a startup nor leaving your company early will ever get you dinged. I still feel that you have to do what is right for YOU at this moment. But of course, if you are gonna spent 2 years at your startup, I won't pretend that your relative success will not influence their decision. But such is the nature of a startup! It's a risk. Yet, I will also say that I have seen loads of candidates with FAILED startups who have done quite well in their applications. The experience you will get from trying out your own thing is one of a kind and can be far better than one more year of hacking out code or whatever

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