Career Coaching

【Career Advice】 Startup or Corporate: Which is better for your career?

Startup vs Corporate: Roles and Responsibilities

Working in a startup means you’ll wear multiple hats in the company. You might find yourself working something completely different that you’ll learn to become familiar with. Working on multiple areas can help you acquire new skills and also help with figuring out what aspect you’re interested in pursuing. You’ll be able to learn different skills quickly, and put in extra effort everyday. 


On the other side of the spectrum, working at a MNC means your roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.  You’ll be able to thrive your niche and have a more structured path for career advancement. As such, having well-defined positions make it easier to identify the required skill sets and experience levels for the employees to advance or receive a promotion. On the other hand, because of the complex structure and hierarchy in bigger companies, the pace of career advancement is slow.

Startup vs Corporate: Stability

Joining a startup can be exciting but also frightening, especially considering the startup fail rate is 3 out of every 4, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Working at a startup takes more than just determination and dedication.  Even if you’re hitting all your KPIs and continuously achieving your goals, you might still lose your job because there are different reasons that lead to startup failure.  This means that you’ll need to adapt quickly to whatever challenges thrown your way.


Working in a well-established company tends to be more stable since the company organization and financial reserve already have a well-structured. The odds of finding the company disappeared are quite impossible, and if that does happen, you will get a nice severance package for the layoff. Because of the stability, there isn’t much to worry about when it comes to working in a corporate. On the flip side, with the stability that comes with it, it might become harder for you to take the risk inherent in the exciting world of startups because of the total difference between working in startups and working in a corporate environment. 


Startup vs Corporate: Work-life Balance

The startup working environment is known for its flexibility, with flexible working hours and flexible working arrangements.  Because of that, the difference between your weekends and weekdays can be blurry and you’ll find yourself working overtime during your holidays.  Because you’ll have multiple hats at work, many things will be dependent on you, and your working schedule will never be clear-cut. Working in a startup takes a lot of dedication and passion.  On the bright side, the devotion you make to your work will be rewarding because being a part of a project or a product creates a sense of pride.  Having more responsibilities at work helps you grow as an individual

At a multinational corporate, with everything well-defined and structured, you will have a predictable working schedule. Because of that, you are able to clearly separate work and personal life and avoid burnout. You can easily strike a balance between work and life. However, it might be difficult for you to be passionate about work because everything is predictable at multinational companies.  


There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing whether to work in a startup or in a corporate environment.  The ultimate question is what you’re looking for in the next milestone of your career.  Explore the possibilities and consider what is more important to you.  

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