I myself would, I think, be much more comfortable working for a startup once it got big, like Facebook. Though these powerhouse companies would be more competitive to work for and harder to be an individual at, I think I would be way more comfortable working in these big environments than the smaller ones.
My takeaway from the speakers last week was that I learned a lot about startups and the startup culture, and what it takes to successfully be apart of it. Before they spoke, I didn’t know that much about startups, so it was really interesting to learn about. I learned that startups are a culture of their own. I also found it interesting that these alums were
I also learned that I could not work for a startup. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the work these three have done, and how far they have come since they started their careers, but as they described their work environments, I realized it was not something for me. I really do think it takes a special kind of personality to work for a startup. All of the speakers identified that they had to be very flexible in their jobs, and I believe I need a position that would be a little more stable. Even though I know that in any field of journalism you have to have some flexibility, the idea of little to no structure was pretty unappealing to me. Also, the idea that it is a small company is scary to me because of how much pressure is put on each person of the team. Unlike bigger companies, you would be responsible for a big chunk of the company, which is not a kind of pressure I think I could work under.
However, their advice did resonate with my own career plans and goals because of their fear. They all admitted, in one way or another, that despite their excitement and happiness with their soon to be jobs, they were scared to have responsibility placed on their shoulders, and they were nervous about blame being placed equally as much. Despite the fact that I feel prepared to take my journalistic skills into the real world, I am also nervous to have so much responsibility fall on me as an individual. It will take getting used to, and as the speakers said, they were “baptized by fire.” It is this “baptism by fire” that I am most scared for, as I wonder how it will affect my work and my plans for my life.
Overall, I think having these former students come talk to our class was beneficial, especially because it seemed like there are people in our class that were interested. I also think the alums did a good job explaining why they ended up where they are, and were very honest with our class about the goods and bads of working for a startup. I really appreciated their honesty and also that they were willing to try to answer all of our questions even if they didn’t know the exact answer.
Words on a Wire 