Four reasons graduates should consider working for a tech startup

Technology startups have seized the imagination of the current generation of university graduates. Visions of office slides and free food, inspired by companies like Google and films such as The Internship, are firmly lodged in the minds of many young jobseekers. With competition for roles at more recognisable brands getting fiercer by the year, and general dissatisfaction building at the way many large corporates are operated, many generation Y-ers are looking at London's so-called silicon roundabout in Old Street as an exciting alternative to the traditional rat race.

Here's why they're making the right decision:

Work in a challenging environment

Startups typically use a more agile work process than most large companies. Together with your colleagues, you will be directly responsible for shaping your own working environment. Game developer, Valve, is keen to instil this feeling in new arrivals from the get-go. New hires are presented with a wheeled desk when they first arrive and told to, quite literally, roll around the office, meet their new colleagues and attach themselves to a project that they find interesting. Everyone has to learn quickly, there's less time to acclimatise.

Meetings at startups are minimised, there's a constant emphasis on making the most of every minute in the day. Every week that passes a company has less funding and less of a chance of making it – there needs to be constant forward progress. There's a near unending list of tasks to do so graduates can be forced (and kept) out of their comfort zone. Continually challenging, startup life is a steep learning curve, but that makes even the small successes more rewarding.

Get great experience

Bigger companies tend to offer graduates a comforting two-year rotation scheme that promises an introduction to different aspects of the business and helps new hires settle in and find their niche. Startups, purely because they don't have the time or inclination to "mother" new arrivals, can force graduates to hit the ground running. This is no bad thing though. Startup years are sometimes equated to dog years – one year at a startup can expose employees to the same intensity, excitement and sheer variety of work as seven years at a larger company.

This is mainly because opportunities to take on responsibility are so widespread. For example, many startups are adopting Google's idea of 20% time, which has famously resulted in the development of central products like AdSense (currently accounting for 25% of the company's $50 billion annual revenue). Once so central to Google's business, this model encourages employees to spend one day a week focusing on independent projects that they feel can advance the business and lets them decide their own workflow.

Get your career off to a great start

Graduates should also remember that startups are an awesome environment to get ahead of the game and advance their career. There is rarely a set term before consideration for promotion and job roles can evolve as new hires establish their niche within the company. Red tape and office bureaucracy are kept to a minimum, so strong performance from graduates is likely to result in immediate increased responsibility, allowing employees to advance at their own rate. The flat structure of most technology startups also makes it easy to discuss these things openly with management. Most founders are very open to chatting about what it is a graduate wants to focus on and where they can improve.

Be part of the next big thing

There's a prevailing feeling at a startup that you could be part of something huge. On some levels all founders are envisioning a huge, WhatsApp style exit that will leave them rich and make those long nights worthwhile. While this may never happen, being part of building a new company is a fantastic opportunity and one that you should seize with both hands. Working at an organisation as it grows can also provide valuable insights for anyone hoping to one day start their own company. Learning from the founders and seeing a first-hand view of what it takes to manage a business could be invaluable down the line.

Ben Slater is sales and marketing director at Seed.Jobs, a company that applies data science and marketing technology to recruitment. You can follow @Ben_Slater12.

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