Big Company vs. Startup Work and Compensation
I&#x27;d recommend anyone looking for their first job out of university to consider strongly a job at a startup. Consider it a &#x27;finishing school&#x27;, where you&#x27;ll have the highest chance to touch as many different technologies and tasks as possible (from system administration, to backend to frontend work), as opposed to the &#x27;Big Company&#x27; where (especially for a first job) you&#x27;ll be focused on one task.<p>The important thing is to <i>leave after one year</i>, no matter the compensation you are getting. Teams have a tendency to give the shittiest work to the most junior member, and there&#x27;s very little inertia to replace that person if they are doing a stellar job at that shit work, but once you leave that startup with bankable experience under your belt, you&#x27;ll have a much easier time interviewing and negotiating yourself a cushier position at either another startup or a big company.<p>Most big companies have a much better career &#x27;ladder&#x27;, where you&#x27;ll be on a path to more interesting work once you&#x27;ve proven your worth, but I suspect you&#x27;d still be in a better position coming into the company one or two years in, rather than starting the treadmill at a lower salary&#x2F;title.