Big Shop versus Small Shop – Maybe it’s Time for a Change
I got a call from a recruiter the other day telling me about a position that was open in a smaller prop (proprietary) trading firm here in the city. This place is small. Less than 20 people in all of IT, and less than a third of that developers. That's small.
But it's bigger than Port-to-Port, my old place. Maybe it's time to head back down to the smaller shops? It got me to thinking.
Certainly the big downsides of a smaller shop would be the job security and the pay. Chances are, they are not going to pay as well, and they have a far greater risk of folding than a multi-national bank with 65,000 employees. But there are a lot of upside there too.
If I got along with the folks (a requirement, to be sure), then the place would be far more accommodating about change. Maybe they'd be willing to look at different platforms, or at least more willing to look at different ideas and ways of doing things. I'm no fool... there's politics everywhere, and coming into a small shop means you have to make sure you like the people there, because that's simply all the people there are. No way to walk to another floor and chat with an old friend - the place doesn't take up two floors.
But if you get along with the people, you are more closely tied to the things that happening in the shop. Decisions about platform and process are going to be a lot more out in the open, and because of the small size, there's going to be less tolerance for the "process as a work product" as opposed to just getting things done. Given the last 8 months here, that is a very attractive possibility.
But in the end, I don't have to move. It might be nice, and if something really stupendous comes along, then great. But if not, that's OK too. I'm not in a horrible place, and I believe I'll know if it's the right time and right opportunity to take.