Karren Brady’s career advice on moving from working in a small firm to a much larger one
APPRENTICE star and West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady answers your careers questions and meets an inspirational CEO.
Here she gives a reader advice on moving from working in a small firm to a much larger one.
Q) I’m in my late-30s and work in marketing.
I recently landed a job offer from a company I’ve always wanted to work for because of their reputation within the industry.
However, I only recently took on my current role at a small agency who went to great lengths to bring me on board.
I’m really enjoying the work and like my new colleagues, and I worry that I wouldn’t enjoy the same atmosphere working at a bigger firm.
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The job title is the same at both companies and the salary difference is negligible, but I’m torn between my desire to advance up the ladder and have such a respected company on my CV, and simply enjoying the daily life of a more relaxed environment.
Help!
Sophie, via email
A) While it’s good to have a well-known company on your CV, more important at this stage of your career are your job responsibilities.
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You want to be in a role where you are making decisions, working directly with stakeholders, have autonomy and can gain valuable experience across a breadth of areas.
In larger companies, it can take longer to be given responsibilities because there are layers of middle management.
Smaller companies don’t have the luxury of a large headcount, so they often rely on their team to take on more senior responsibilities.
A day in the life of...
Jaime Amor, 42, is the founder of children’s yoga app Cosmic Kids. She lives in Oxfordshire with husband and co-founder Martin, 51, and their dogs Mini and Spence.
I wake up at…
6.45am. I have a herbal tea, then after a shower, Martin and I take the dogs for a half-hour walk across the fields. Breakfast at 8.15am is two boiled eggs with toast and coffee.
We live in a cottage – we’re currently building our dream home – so I open my laptop at our breakfast bar at around 9am.
A normal day involves…
I start by checking emails. We’re doing loads of summer festivals, so at the moment messages are largely from festival organisers.
We’re also launching merchandise such as onesies and T-shirts. Last year, we hit an audience of 1.2 million and we’d love to become part of school curriculums in the UK and globally – 65% of our audience is in the US.
We employ three people, and while Martin’s responsible for production, our app and YouTube channel, I’m the creative force.
Every day, I write and rehearse yoga adventures, which we film once a month at a green-screen studio.
I also plan and record introductions to my weekly yoga club segment.
Each week, I get final assessment videos from students on our online training course – they learn storytelling yoga, how to make classes engaging and yoga poses for kids’ bodies.
One of my favourite jobs is doing interviews, and it’s always exciting to be contacted about brand collaborations.
Last year, we teamed up with My Little Pony and designed a yoga plan for a female astronaut with the European Space Agency.
I break for lunch at 1pm – a chicken and salad pitta before a quick dog walk – then finish work around 6.30pm.
The best part of my job is…
The freedom and flexibility to be my own boss, and getting to dress up and play for a living.
And the worst…
Not knowing when or how it’s going to end. Occasionally I’m asked: “What’s your five-year plan?” I don’t know. I just make videos!
I wind down by…
Watching telly. I’m also part of a local community group. Organising tea parties for over-80s is a nice distraction.
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Obviously, the downside of a smaller company is it’s harder to climb the ladder, as there are fewer roles to move into.
If you want your next promotion to be in say, two years, think about which firm will give you the experience to make you the most skilled candidate for that promotion, then go with them.
Be a boss
Bossing It is Fabulous’ series about ordinary women who have launched incredible businesses.
It aims to inspire other women and show that if these ladies can do it, so can you!
Read more at machibet777.site/topic/bossing-it.
- Got a careers question for Karren? Email [email protected].
Karren cannot answer emails personally. Content is intended as general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice.