Girl on the Brink: Surviving Desperate Times with Desperate Measures

Throughout my professional career, I’ve either worked for myself or small companies. But it’s often scary because small companies can go belly up any day. I’m tired of that. This time, I want a company that’s well endowed.

I know people say size doesn’t matter. But it does.

While a small, new company can be exhilarating to work for, sometimes a bigger, more mature company is reassuring.

Bigger companies also seem to have more staying power and generous benefits. If you prove your worth, keep your head down and obey the upper echelon, you’ll stay in your company’s good graces until it can’t afford you anymore. However, the bigger the company, the harder, it seems, is the fall when they cut you loose, which is typically en masse.

Sometimes, I get stuck working for a middle-of-the-road company—not too big, not too small, and not just right. When I’m in that kind of relationship, I just want to get the heck out of there.

But, like I said, I feel stuck inside a company that’s not going to advance my career, especially in a shaky economy. Getting out these days is much harder than it used to be. When you do enter a new place, it’s hard not to feel like you’re going to get screwed again.

In this economy, companies don’t feel all that comfortable entering new relationships and treat you as if you’re on a Dutch Date with then.

You’re asked to pay for increasingly higher health-care premiums and coffee in the office kitchen. They’re not interested in sweeping you off your feet anymore. They’re more interested in sweeping you out the door at the first sign that you’re indispensible. They expect more service for less pay. Whether you keep the same hours is your business, but if you work beyond your alloted work-week hours don’t expect to earn overtime.

So, the next time someone tells you size doesn’t matter, send them Ann’s way. She’ll tell you if they measure up.