One of the most common questions about career choices on threads is: choose a larger company with more benefits and stability but lower salary, or choose a startup/small company with slightly higher salary, fewer benefits, and uncertainty about whether the company will even survive tomorrow?
From my observation, roughly 90% of advice on threads says to choose a large company, live the corporate life for security, don't work for startups. It sounds reasonable, but in my view, that advice, while not wrong, no longer fits the times as the world creates many new professions with technology's impact, and AI is the biggest buzz word.
To make your own decision without getting "stuck in the middle of the road," you first need to understand the career "matrix" that you want to aim for as shown below. Note: this is a personal perspective, not career guidance material.
I will briefly explain the parameters used in the matrix above:
Job: transactional in nature, you exchange time and effort for money without considering sustainability or long-term thinking. This is commonly called a "job."
Career: long-term investment in nature, you work not only for money but also to gain experience, skills, relationships, and build reputation. A career will follow you regardless of who pays your salary.
Upside: has potential for big wins but comes with high risk.
Stability: pretty self-explanatory.
Once you understand these 4 parameters, the next step is to decide which box(es) you will "play" in, and that decision will help you think more clearly. If you read to the end, I'll share an additional new career trend in this era.
I'll go in order 1 - 3 - 2 - 4.
Box One: "Surfer"
Job x Upside
I temporarily call people who play in this box "Surfers" because they have the ability to spot good money-making opportunities with high risk and make big sacrifices in a short time, and usually they will do many things simultaneously.
Example: In an AI-for-everyone era, someone launches a 500k course teaching others to use AI instead of a professional dev earning 30 million (?!); or when the crypto market is volatile, you jump into day trading to make quick money; or create a viral channel to earn money from affiliate marketing for some hot product, then shut it down.
To play in this box, you need a special trait: hustle. Whatever makes money, do it immediately; once it stops making money, drop it; don't think much about sustainability or long-term considerations.
Box Three: "Fate Player"
Job x Stability
People who play in this box are very easy to understand and don't need much explanation. The common feature of these jobs is low value, repetitive, little change or fluctuation, but very limited advancement opportunities and easily replaceable.
Example: office administrative staff, customer care, data entry, retail, factory workers.
Unless you have no other choice, to comfortably play in this box you need a special ability: knowing when you have enough, being satisfied with life, and understanding that while this job may not be glamorous, it will help you achieve other goals, such as more time with family or simply more time for yourself.
Box Two: "Perseverance King"
Career x Upside
Building a career with upside growth is harder than having a job with upside growth because you must be extremely focused, not do many things, and most importantly, you must have "grit" - win without arrogance, lose without discouragement - until the sweet fruit arrives.
Example from a true story someone shared with me: starting as a junior copywriter, doing whatever the boss assigns. But after everyone left, you stayed alone in the office and secretly collected all the client briefs/creative briefs from other teams, took them home, and solved them your own way to practice and sent them to the boss. The boss looked at it, said nothing, crumpled your paper, and threw it in the trash. But this friend endured greatly and kept doing it anyway, and eventually excellent results proved everything. They advanced very quickly in the field. From employee of the year, they became a successful Creative Director, opened their own boutique agency, but struggled and had to close, then went back to working for others, and after some time opened another studio. Success or not is luck, but through persistence, they built a reputation as a trusted and sought-after Creative Director.
In summary, people who succeed in this box must be comfortable with ambiguity, know when to aim high but be willing to accept less, not focus on short-term gains, whether as a boss or employee. Of course, the sacrifice here is the greatest, from time for yourself, family, health, and even money.
One thing I want to emphasize: the difference for people in this box lies in mindset, not workplace environment.
Box Four: "Deep Specialist"
Career x Stability
This is the box that our parents' generation (Gen X and Boomers) favored greatly when they had to struggle building lives after war or through the subsidy period. Many early 90s-born people like me have argued heatedly with parents when they wanted us to have stable careers while we liked exploring different things. Unlike box two, building a career in this box shouldn't expect large growth prospects; instead it will be nurtured in an environment with solid structure and clear procedures. Your job is to focus on expertise, advancement is guaranteed as long as you're patient and deliver expected results.
Example: brand team at a large company, university lecturer, doctor, police officer, tax specialist, accountant, etc.
People in this system don't need grit like box two, but need patience, ability to follow rules and procedures, and may also need office politics skills.
Reading to here, I hope you have a clearer view of the career landscape. Your job is to "match" your suitability with each box. Don't mechanically choose a large company because it's more stable and has more benefits while passing up a small startup with lower pay and no benefits, when it teaches you business acumen and resourcefulness. Conversely, if you want to spend more time on yourself and family, don't believe a startup founder's siren song that "first employees will become future millionaires" or join a brand team at an MNC, but rather choose box three or four.
Finally, you can explore a new career trend called "portfolio career," simply put, dancing to any tune, moving between boxes. You can build a career as a copywriter while also being a content creator. You can be an architect while side hustling as a stand-up comedian. You can be a full-time mom while also being a food blogger.
You don't need to limit yourself, but I think you should focus on one box first to build a solid foundation, then transition to portfolio career for better mental health.
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