WORKING FOR AN SME VS BLUE CHIP... WHICH IS BEST FOR CAREER PROGRESSION?

Written By Tom Jagger

This is a conversation I seem to be having quite a lot with candidates over the past few months.

  • Blue Chips may offer more stability, especially in uncertain market conditions as we have had recently.

  • They may also be able to give you more structured training and development programmes, along with a defined career path for the next few years.

  • But working for a growing SME may give you a lot more experience in a shorter time, with much broader roles and often much faster paced working environments.

  • Working with an SME can also give you more autonomy to make decisions and you could make a genuine impact on the success of the business.

  • Salary and benefits can vary massively, historically higher salaries and better benefits packages have been seen in Blue Chips, but we have recently seen more SME's offering higher salaries and some great benefits from equity options to unlimited holidays.

A lot can come down to personal preferences and how you like to work. If you like more structured environments then blue-chip may be more suitable. But if you have more entrepreneurial tendencies and don’t mind rolling your sleeves up then SME may be the way forward for you.