| The good points: Long hours, for one. Established companies will often accumulate 8-5'ers who do just enough to not get fired, and that's a deadly contagion. Late nights build team camaraderie and individual determination. Schedule your workout, errands, and siesta mid-day. Perhaps lack of job security, if you are lucky. The only real security is knowing you can handle whatever comes. Do so with grace. Likely an immature set of processes, or no process at all. Rather than wasting time with outdated documentation, or dragging folklore from petty fuedal Lords, you get to share in the creation of SOP. Be sure to document the process well, as it will allow you to spend less time in the future explaining it to each new hire. You'll probably be expected to wear many hats. That is, develop, QA, maintain build systems, deal with customers, etc. Cross-training is job security at it's finest, for the current company and when seeking employment elsewhere. A lot of this depends on how new the startup is and how many employees. Now for the bad points: The people you will be working with are about to hire someone who is more concerned with what to avoid instead of what to look forward to. It might explain why the person has interned at many companies, instead of one which ultimately hired them. |