In my career so far, I've only ever worked at a large company. Since the company is very big, there are teams dedicated to very specific things (Exactly like you and Dr. Simon mentioned). To me, this question boils down to the startup vs. large corporation question: "Which would you prefer to work for?". I think I would prefer to work for a startup because you have more exposure to many different areas of a project. At this stage in my career, I still need to figure out where I want to fit within the industry, so a smaller/startup would give exposure to much more than what I'm currently seeing at a big company. I also think being at a smaller company can be more exciting because you're doing different things all the time, where at a large company with very specific roles the work can become very repetitive and boring. 

Does anyone have the same or differing opinion?

Thanks,

Matt

I would prefer working in an environment where I have a more roles in a design process. Disregarding any change in workload I think it is beneficial not only for my career but project design skills to better understand the processes that make the product. By better understanding more steps of the process you can more accurately plan for problems associated with normal miscommunication or design preferences that would be seen in a company that has a project split across multiple departments. Additionally, If I were to ever change jobs or move primary functions it would be more beneficial to understand multiple processes compared the alternative of being an expert in just one area and run the risk of not being able to properly fit a new job description or role. While I wouldn't be greatly opposed to the opposite scenario, what are some benefits that I am missing from being an "expert" in one area as opposed to "good" in multiple.

I agree with @mmd55. At both my previous and current positions, I have only had the opportunity to work for large companies. Apart from my day to day job, I am not exposed to much else. At my previous job, I was promoted from a technician position to an engineer so I was able to learn more about the medical device I was assigned to work with. If I were to work at a smaller company or even a startup, I would be exposed to different people and different job responsibilities since there would be fewer people. I feel like working at a startup would be an interesting experience and I hope to do that some day. I really want to see the company grow from the ground up and see how they can manage to grow in a changing environment and handle all the different tasks. If that requires individuals to take on more responsibility or more roles, I would like to do that.

I agree with @mmd55, in that this discussion does boil down to what we prefer, either working for a startup/small and medium enterprise (SME) or a large company. I am currently working in both and would once again have to agree with @mmd55 in that I am gaining a lot more experience working in a startup versus in a large company. In a startup, my responsibilities include the technical research and development, risk management, networking with other industry professionals, developing a business model to explore the potential for commercialization, securing funding, and understanding the FDA process. Depending on the startup's phase of development, finding a team to support you is very difficult and so recruiting specialists/experts is not easy. At a larger company, most of my work is very routine and the responsibilities are broken up into cross-functional teams/divisions so no one is overwhelmed and can stick to what they specialize in. And to continue with the discussion, I believe being an expert in a niche area definitely has benefits in terms of compensation but finding a job is not as easy. Alternatively, being a well-rounded professional may not yield as much compensation but growth is more tangible and establishing a career is easier. Anyone know other advantages or disadvantages I may not have covered?

I believe at this point in time i would like to be apart of a larger company, where there is a set standard and i could learn from to learn a fundamental role such as risk management or understand how project management works. In a smaller company where sometimes these details are not set out or a startup company, it would be difficult for me to take those roles without much experience. If i had more experience in those roles, then definitely being a apart of a smaller company would be ideal.

The scaling of the size of teams is crucial to project performance. In simple terms, you need to have enough people to complete the tasks. As you mentioned, some bigger companies may have dedicated teams assigned to a certain task or function. Smaller companies don't have this benefit. Yes, often times team members may have to take on additional roles. However, it is important there is not a conflict of interest. For example, an engineer should not be performing both engineering and quality roles. The engineer can not review and approve their own work.

In my most recent role, the company was fairly large and there was a PM but there was no PM team. The project manager would enlist the input/services of an individual from the internal team the project focused on, to help execute the tasks that needed to be completed. This is the quickest way to burn your project manager out. This was not an advantageous way to manage projects nor does it portray value in PM/employees.

I haven't had the opportunity to work with a company, much less if they are a large or small company. But I am currently a part of a research lab on campus. I came into the lab and there was a decent amount of people participating, so it could be comparable to larger companies. But over time many members either left or graduated which shifted it to a smaller company, so I would say I was able to experience both in a way. In the larger company, there were more people I was able to depend on and that I could ask for advice. I did have a small set of tasks that were my own but there was always someone who could always help in that division as well. In the smaller company, I take care of a lot more tasks and maintenance than before, which can disrupt my personal work. And from my experience I think I would prefer a slightly bigger company. It fits me better to become the ‘expert’ in one portion and assist others in that. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn different skills as well but tasks were more equally divided and things flowed easier when there  was a specific person with certain expertise. So overall I believe it is better to focus on one aspect but still take the time to learn multiple skills.