How do I answer why I want to join a smaller company given I have worked at larger ones?

Question

I am in university and have done two previous internships ( I live in Canada), my last two internships were for very large and reputable companies (both with 50k+ employees and likely, much higher pay than the job that I am interviewing for now). But for this Co-op or internship term, I want to stay within my own city which is pretty small and does not really have large companies that deal with software or computer engineering in general.

So I have an interview with a pretty small company (about 50 employees), that I really want just because it is in my field, and I really don't want to leave my city for personal reasons, like my family being here, and I really don't like big cities. My internship adviser has told me to prepare for some questions on "why do you want to work at this small company given you have worked at very large successful companies", unfortunately I haven't been able to contact him since he is busy and my interview is later this evening.

If I get asked this during an interview, is it appropriate to simply tell the truth, that I want to stay in my own city(where I currently study) due to the fact that I have family here, or how exactly should I phrase this (and obviously mention that I think their company has a great future and I would like to be part of it etc..)? Would my past experience at large companies hinder my chances at getting this job? I really would like this job.

Answer 1

Tell the truth.

When you're honest, your body language reinforces that. When you are honest, you're able to say things with feeling and with passion and that will increase your chances.

Everyone has tells when they lie, unless they're a practiced sociopath. There are many who can see tells, whether they call it intuition, instinct or perhaps they've even been trained.

If a company doesn't want you because of your honest reasons, do you really want to work for a company like that? It wouldn't be a good fit anyway.

Answer 2

The question of big company vs small company usually comes up when you are transitioning between the two. At this point in your career, I think that a legitimate answer to the question of why is "My last two internships have been with large companies and I would like to work for a smaller company and see how it compares" Smaller companies can have major benefits like opportunity to work outside of your defined role and the chance to have a bigger impact on the business. Plus like you said, it's local!

Good Luck.

Answer 3

As Christopher says, honesty is the best policy and will make you less tense at the interview.

That said, there are plenty of benefits to working for smaller companies. It's worth looking into these benefits and seeing if any interest you.

• You'll likely gain a wider range of skills and experiences as the relative lack of employees forces you to become a "jack of all trades" to one extent or another
• Similarly, you are more likely to be given be a greater variety of tasks and be less of a "cog in the machine"
• Your contributions will have more of an impact on the business
• When you put in extra effort you're more likely to be recognised and appreciated for it
• Smaller companies often have a more informal work culture and tend to be less "corporate" or bureaucratic
• There tends to be more of a sense of camaraderie, and employees tend to socialise a little more outside of work hours

These are some of my reasons why I prefer to work for smaller companies.

There is a fair bit of information out there if you google "benefits of working for a smaller company". If you aren't confident in saying your current reasons for wanting to work for them have a look at what other reasons people have for working with smaller companies and see which ones you agree with and would be happy to honestly give in an interview

Answer 4

I would also suggest to tell the truth. There is nothing wrong with your reasons and they are perfectly acceptable.

Having said that, I would also urge you to consider following: When you are at the beginning of your career, it is sometimes better to work for the smaller companies. The thing is, when you work for smaller company, you get assigned a number of tasks simply because there is nobody else who has the time to do them. I'm not saying that is the best possible organization, but it is often the fact. So, another good answer would be that you feel that you might get more chances doing different things and perhaps learning different technologies, and that you find that challenging and interesting.

In my opinion, the first couple of years of your career should be focused more on what you can learn, and what experiences you can gain, than solely on financial aspect of employment, but please, skip sharing this thought when negotiating salary.