I had been working as a software engineer in a corporate environment for almost eight years before jumping into a startup.

I was lucky enough to get involved in exciting and large-scale products, mostly in the banking and telecommunication industries. I got the chance to work closely as an outsourcing engineer for great companies such as Microsoft, WIND, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Piraeus Bank.

I would never regret these years of my career since I earned so many things. It was a period where I improved both my technical and soft skills.

Corporate: The good parts

First of all, I was engaged with so many tech stacks. From legacy to modern ones. This was an important lesson because it helped me understand that there are many different ways to develop products, and each technology and architecture is out there to serve different use cases, based on our needs. There is no right or wrong. There are just so many parameters to guide us to choose the right tools.

Also, I developed the skill to work under pressure due to hard -and not artificial- deadlines. I consider this to be among the good parts since it enforced me to break the tasks efficiently so that I could deliver things on time.

In terms of soft skills, it was great to be able to be part of numerous different teams. Sometimes big and other small ones. I got the chance to meet so many people and grow my network. Ι learned how to accept but also give feedback to my teammates.

Corporate: The bad parts

Unfortunately, in a corporate environment -like almost always in life- there the bad parts too. Eventually, some things led me to look for the next step in my career.

At some point, I felt that there wasn't much room for self-improvement by continuing to work as an outsourcing engineer. I had barely improved my skills within two years. The main reason was because of working with so many clients, in a fast-paced environment, I did not have the opportunity and time to invest to learn new things through my work.

Things were moving fast around, new tech stacks were out there, trends were changing and I felt I was left behind.

I can give a high-level explanation of why that happened. Mostly because I was working on products that once I delivered I never had to touch again. I didn't care to have the cleanest and the most efficient code, best architecture, sufficient tests, and updated dependencies.

There were also times that development processes were old-fashioned. For example, frequently I had to manually deploy new releases on the client's premises without having any idea until then what CI/CD is and why or how to use it.

Apart from the technical part, under certain circumstances, I was demotivated when I was working within toxic environments from employees that were operating based on their hidden agendas and company politics. When the hiring process is not clearly defined, people without cultural fit may get hired and disturb a team's balance.

Last but not least, by having to work periodically as a consulting/outsourcing engineer in many different clients, your company can easily miss the effort you are putting on or how important you are to them. As a result, this also affects your career path and salary expectations which remain low.

The Startup experience

From the first moment I joined the startup, I was excited. I knew that this would be something completely new to me.

Great tech stack, small team, highly skilled people sharing the same vision, one great product to make things happen. Everything is moving around the product and the company's goals. Every single member is extremely motivated since if the company succeeds, it will be the outcome of their great teamwork.

Having said these, I was delighted by the prospect of taking ownership of certain product's modules and features, and fight for good quality code to sustain the company.

It is also wonderful to see the company grow day by day, knowing that you are a vital part of it.

There are also some great benefits when working for a startup. They provide high-quality equipment so that everyone can maximize their productivity. Apart from that, remote working is an option since it is an important part of the company's culture.

As for the dress code, it does not exist. Everyone can dress as they express themselves, without unnecessary formalities.

In terms of work-life balance, it isn't always there, but that's ok from my point of view. I already mentioned above, that to help the company make the next step and get bigger, everyone in the team has to fight for that. In the end, usually, this effort is rewarded.

Finale

This post is definitely not about comparing corporate to startups.

It is a way to express my feelings and share my overall experience so far since I initially had my doubts about whether I was making the right career choice. I was afraid that this could be a step backward. It turns out that it was a great decision and I couldn't be more happy about that.

Nonetheless, I am one hundred percent sure that I could not appreciate my current job role without my previous exposure to the corporate environment.