Based on my career experience as a project manager, I have observed that promotions can come quicker in a small company compared to a large one. This is especially true after you have gained several years’ experience. For some reason, many large companies are slow in giving promotions unless you are a rising star. If you are not a rising start and want to get a promotion, I suggest you look for opportunities in small companies to get the title you want (e.g., project manager).
Once you have the title, no one can take it away which means after several years’ experience in a small company you have a much better chance of getting the same position but with more responsibility and pay in a large company. The challenge is-do you have the right stuff to succeed in a small company?
Using my own career experience, I will share my story working in a small company. It will give you some insight into what you may face.
My Background
After I received my BS in mechanical engineering, within three weeks I started my two-year active-duty service in the US Army Corps of Engineering as a 2nd Lieutenant. During my years of service, I learned leadership skills. I also was responsible and supervised five enlisted men. I was given the responsibility to lead the USMA (United States Military Academy), also called West Point, demonstration that all branches of the service did to entice the top 10% of USMA graduates to join their branch. I had hundreds of men under my supervision and it took weeks to set up. It went well. The point here is I gained leadership and supervision experience as well as leading one of the most important demonstration on post. I was ready for industry with a lot of confidence I would need to be successful.
Getting Started in Industry
I accepted a design engineering job with one of the four big defense industries (primarily an electronics company) after I was discharged from the Army. I worked there for about 1 ½ years before deciding I wanted to work for a company that did primarily mechanical engineering. I landed a job as a senior design engineer developing lift trucks. It paid more money and I had more responsibility. I liked the company and the work. It was a medium sized company. My job lasted about another 1 ½ years before the company closed the facility near my home where I worked. They consolidated their operation on the west cost and asked me to join them but I declined and found myself out of work. My old company hired me back. I stayed about 1 ½ years before an opportunity knocked on my door. I accepted a mechanical engineering managers job in a small company. Approximately ten people worked in the office and another twenty or so in the fabrication and machine shop. As the only mechanical engineer on staff, I was responsible for design, fabrication, the machine shop, preparing proposals and associated marketing. I had 4 ½ years’ experience in industry and had a lot of responsibilities with no other mechanical engineering backup.
First Day on the Job
I came into the office and was taking my coat off when the controller of the company handed me the phone and told me the concrete service company that was pouring a foundation that day for a large antenna wants to know what concrete mix should they use. I put the concrete vendor on hold, got out my Mark’s Handbook (bible for mechanical engineers) selected the concrete mix I thought was the best for the job, relayed it to the vendor and hung up. I did not panic. I felt confident in my choice.
About an hour later, I reviewed the designs underway for an aircraft landing antenna that used jack screws to manually move it in elevation and azimuth to the desired settings. During the review, I was stunned with the fact, the designer was using aluminum jack screws that went into an aluminum thread. This is a no-no because same materials with a thread will gall and stick causing damage to the threads. In other words, the design would not have worked. I immediately directed the designers to change the jack screws to stainless steel.
Before lunch on my first day at the job, I made two critical decisions. But I felt confident in these decisions I hit the road doing 100 mph and it never stopped.
Additional Story
We were preparing a proposal for a troposphere antenna system, comprising towers and reflectors, that would be installed in Spain atop of the Pyrenees. Mountains. The scope comprised: design of five different size antenna systems ranging in size from 32 feet to 60 feet; fabrication of the reflectors at our facility; fabrication of the towers in Spain; and installation of the systems. The president of the company spent two weeks in Spain to determine the tower fabrication $/lb. cost. I was responsible for estimating the weight of each tower. Our price was simply the fabrication $/lb. times the weight. My responsibility was to calculate the weight of each tower within 5% of the actual weight. As it turned out, my weight estimates were on the spot.
We won the job. After concentrating on the designs, I traveled to Spain for two weeks to find and place in country subcontractors under contract to fabricate the towers. As part of that process, I discovered that the subcontractors preferred square tubing for the tower in lieu of round tubing in the present design to save costs. I redesigned each tower from a round to a square configuration in Spain. No one reviewed the revised drawings except me. The towers were built. The reflectors were built and sent to Spain. My company installed the system successfully.
Summary
When I accepted the managers job with the small company, I had no idea what I was getting into. I found out I was tested from the very first day and every day since I was the mechanical engineering manager, structural analyst, fabrication expert, machine shop management, installation, and marketing. I designed concrete foundations, helped in installing the foundation rebar, de-aerating the concrete to get the air out and the list goes on.
When I left the company five years later, I was confident in my engineering, managerial, fabrication, machine shop, international subcontract, negotiation, and marketing abilities. It was like drinking out of a firehouse under pressure. It would have taken years in a large company to acquire the experience and skills I gained in the small antenna company.
I also learned do not fear changing jobs and companies to accelerate your career path.
Hopefully this paper will provide helpful insight into working for a small company. It is a step along your career path to consider. You need the right stuff (skills and confidence to do well.
Bio:
Currently John Ayers is an author, writer, and consultant. He authored a book entitled Project Risk Management. It went on sale on Amazon in August 2019. He authored a second book entitled How to Get a Project Management Job: Future of Work. It is on sale on Amazon. The first is a text book that includes all of the technical information you will need to become a Project Manager (PM). The second book shows you how to get a PM job. Between the two, you have the secret sauce to succeed. There are links to both books on his website. https://projectriskmanagement.info/He has presented numerous Webinars on project risk management to PMI. He writes columns on project risk management for CERM (certified enterprise risk management). John also writes blogs for Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK. He has conducted a podcast on project risk management. John has published numerous papers on project risk management and project management on LinkedIn.
John earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering and MS in Engineering Management from Northeastern University. He has extensive experience with commercial and U.S. DOD companies. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI. John has managed numerous large high technical development programs worth in excessive of $100M. He has extensive subcontract management experience domestically and foreign. John has held a number of positions over his career including: Director of Programs; Director of Operations; Program Manager; Project Engineer; Engineering Manager; and Design Engineer. He has experience with: design; manufacturing; test; integration; subcontract management; contracts; project management; risk management; and quality control. John is a certified six sigma specialist, and certified to level 2 Earned Value Management (EVM). Go to his website above to find links to his books on Amazon and numerous papers.