Do you work at a startup ?

Pro:
-A lot of opportunity to grow and learn, really getting your hands "dirty", and "failing fast"
-greater autonomy, little to no micromanagement
-can dress-down
Con:
-Not so attractive pay, but not always, depends on company
-possibillity of wearing multiple hats from time to time
-Less to no opportunity for mentorship from seniors esp. if you are one of the pioneer devs
-little to no assurance of the company's business continuity (esp. if it's in its early stages and still building its MVP)

Pro: Decent control over company success and personal career growth. If you're determined to take on a challenge it's a lot more likely you'll be able to do it in a startup vs big org. Get to learn what true failure can look like vs big org where everything's a bit abstracted away.
Con: Typically lower wages, but not always. Kind of depends. Probably less guidance/time from managers, need to figure things out on your own and be okay with having to retrace steps when direction was wrong.

Both environments have their own unique flavors of toxicity and abuse.

I think it's probably emotionally easier to leave a big corp if things aren't working out vs startups.

Pro: great
Con: as long as it's not morphing into a company and thinks it has grown up

IMHO: Stop studying in universities for bachelors, masters and titles. Start studying for your life, work and passion! Start learning while living a grateful and joyful life. You can do everything!

Pro: Everything I do impact directly on the final user. Which in my case are people seeking for jobs. That adds purpose to my work and makes me excited to get out of bed every morning and go do something for them.

Con: Lack of processes/structure. I feel like the things I needed most (recognition, feedbacks, support for professional development) I needed to fight for and also bring ideas to the leaders. Also, it's very easy to give your all and lose balance of work/life.

BTW, there are a lot of startups in different stages. For me, I wouldn't work in a startup that is working/finishing their MVP. I feel like the con would be even bigger.

Pro: Smaller team = more opportunities to learn
Con: Smaller team = more risk

There are a lot more pros and cons, but those are the two that stand out the most to me. If your young and starting out, its one of the better times to take on risk. Just be aware of all the horror stories of working at failing startups (90% of startups will fail), if you aren't getting paid $, and instead are getting paid in shares or something, then get out 😉

Pro: wearing multiple hats -> deepening and widening your knowledge: priceless

Con: can't think of any. And BTW anyone who suggests that one startup "con" is "no job security" is dreaming; companies of every size lay off people at the drop of a hat, every day. Best antidote? see "Pro" above 😀

Pro: get freedom to make choices (like framework, libraries, etc) and the chance to have a real impact on the product you are building

Con: it's probably you'd have to work extra during the week or even on weekends sometime. Also it's common for the startup to change direction on the go, so you must be prepared to follow without getting frustrated but excited

At least that was my experience so far in the last few years

I wouldn't categorize as pros/cons. I leave it to your discretion. I will just mention points that you might expect startup can have:

• very rapid release cycles
• great learning for self motivated people
• meeting & working with people with great knowledge
• very vague product backlog(not in all though)
• bad work hours(possibly when we're optimistic/are expected to work overtime)

Pro: Able to oversee the whole project and actually work on different things that will enable you to see essentials to software development itself. You'll learn the importance of tests, writing style and such. Able to meet almost everyday to discuss things.
Con: Low wage. Lesser review, probably because nobody is actually assigned in quality assurance.

Of course, this is purely from my experience so it will vary greatly but for me, it's worth a shot!

Pro: lots and lots of knowledge about computer science
Cons: No job security, Lower wages. but probably compensates to the knowledge but not enough when you got to earn a amount to at least support yourself!

Pro: you can learn everything like development, devops and business model also.you can touch many things than a big company.there you will be a part of a process, here you can have a good control over the process.

Con: most of the times you will not get the yearly bonus ;)

Hard to succinctly put it after so long in a start up that is now transitioning to a company

Pro: You often hold many different roles/wear many different hats and get to experiment with lots of different things.
Con: The company can unexpectedly change direction as money from funders comes in that dictates which projects you do.

If you are not able to adapt easily and just go along with things then you will struggle in a start up. But it can be incredibly rewarding when you start seeing your hard work pay off.

Degrees matter less in some fields while others it is a huge thing so know the field you plan to do the degree in. And who you want to work with.

I work for a 10yr old company with a startup mindset. Now that's what I call perfect.

I didn't study cs I studied fine art and fell into development.

Worked for a startup for 2 years previously. My question will be what is your intent of joining a startup. I joined a startup because I wanted to be a tech entrepreneur.

Pro: You learn a lot more by wearing multiple hats especially you are new and young. Who is interested in the problem on what the startup is solving to help the startup to grow big.

Con: You might have low pay and lack of job security due to high failure rate of most startups. FYI think like a investor when your joining one and know what you are getting into.

I won't go for a masters since it does not make much sense for me. As I value experience, network, skill, knowledge, personal brand more over a piece of paper and it's usually very expensive.

Lastly take a look at my article called Is Startup For Me? then you make your own decision.

Pro: You get a lot of ownership over what you are working on. You have the ability to have a large impact on the company which is incredibly rewarding. While salaries may be less than the big tech companies, often you can get a decent amount of equity if you come in early enough. And there are a million other pros!!!

Con: Sometimes the benefits are not as good such as 401k matching and health benefits. Personally, my solution is to have a significant other that works for a large company with great benefits and you mooch off them 😉