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Finding out about SMEs

You are more likely to get your first job with a company you haven't heard of yet; one that is an SME (Small and Medium sized Enterprise).

As you finish up at university and start to look around the recruitment sections of the national papers, the majority of the adverts you will see will be for jobs within big international company names that you know. You should, however, start considering the bigger picture as you are more likely to get your first job with a company you haven't heard of yet; one that is an SME (Small and Medium sized Enterprise).

According to research by Dotcorjob.com, only 5% of graduates work for large companies.  There are approximately 3.7m companies in the UK, and 3.6 of them are SMEs – an SME is classed as a company that employs up to 250 people.

Many people feel like they are missing out on something if they get a job in an SME, but that is just not the case. They are often considered as small, amateurish businesses that don't offer good money or career prospects. Wrong!

SMEs offer a very warm and friendly working environment for a start. It’s much nicer to know many of the staff quite closely rather than being just a number, so that is a positive right there. In addition, whatever you may have been led to believe,  SME's are able to meet your training requirements and help you move up the career ladder. The style of training may be different; perhaps you'll be lacking corporate training trips or departmental placements, but you'll gain a lot of experience very quickly, as all your training will be done on the job. 

SME’s are supported by many different groups all which help with further training for staff. These include the Learning Skills Council, Enterprise Development Agencies like SEEDA for example (South East Development Agency), the Department for Trade and Industry plus charities and local governments that support local businesses and assist in skills acquisitions. With this in mind, you know that if you walk into a job at an SME, you've have a lot of support behind you in terms of skill development.

Sophie Relf, Head of Campaign Management at Work thing, offers some more SME benefits. “You have a greater ability to influence the organisation and make a difference in general,” she says. “You can see the benefits of what you do, you can shape your future, and you can have a diverse role that touches on many business functions.  You can make decisions quickly, sign off procedures should be shorter and therefore implement changes more efficiently,” she adds.

To look at both sides, yes there are some drawbacks to working for an SME but there are also drawbacks for working in a large company. Drawbacks at an SME can include the fact that you may have to define your own structure/way of working/career progression within the company. “As the company is likely to be smaller, personal preferences (favouritism) may come across as more powerful than work ethics or professionalism. The way in which candidates are selected may be based more on personality than ability.,” notes Relf. “In addition, as most SMEs don't have a dedicated HR or personnel department or person, you may find that your interview lacks structure and you will need to make sure that all of your recruitment related queries are answered without appearing overbearing,” she adds.

SME’s can offer decent long-term career prospects and chances for promotion, but as with any job they are as good as the candidate. “There is huge scope for individuals to excel at what they are good at or interested in,” notes Relf.

Most SME's are really just growing companies – at one stage all the multinationals you've heard of where SMEs themselves, weren't they? As a growing company they cant afford to get recruitment wrong, which is why so many are on the look out for well-educated graduates. “One person in a small organisation has a bigger impact than one person in an organisation of several thousand,” says Relf. ”Graduates will be perceived as being smart, hard working and interested in continuous improvement. They’ve already made an investment in their own learning and development. Also as graduates in general are young, they do not come with the same preconceptions of more experienced hires. A cradle to grave philosophy is an effective and efficient work and recruitment ethic for smaller companies,” she explains.

So, if after reading this you feel like you want to begin your career within an SME, or feel like moving to a smaller company from elsewhere, here is some advice on what they look for when recruiting. “Like every business, SMEs look for enthusiasm, flexibility – an ease of ability to move with the times, drive and an open approach to learning,” says Relf. Her advice for job hunters is to research the companies you'd like to work for before you apply to them. “Research – everyone score brownie points if they've mystery shopped their prospective employers, made themselves aware of whom their competitors are, understand their market and customers etc. At its simplest, this is the ‘interest’ part of enthusiasm,” she adds.

When it comes to what kind of company you'd like to work for, take time out to consider the kind of work you want to do, the atmosphere you want to work in and the kinds of goals you want to set yourself career-wise. By doing this, you'll be able to narrow down your job search and focus on the kinds of companies that appeal to you – whether they be SMEs or larger organisations. Working this out before starting your job hunt will save both yourself and prospective employers much time.

“Candidates should focus on matching what they want to do, are good at, and their ideal working environment with the work/ organisation. Staff churn is costly to all businesses – it’s much smoother and happier for all concerned if candidates and recruiters try to match skills, qualifications, work preferences, experience with what the candidate enjoys doing, is interested in and an ideal working environment. This is what I call a Happy Work Reality,” concludes Relf.

 

With thanks to Sophie Relf -Head of Campaign Management at Workthing. She is also the author of the book The Right Career Moves Handbook, published by Kogan Page under the name of Sophie Allen.