In the modern market, big firms certainly aren’t always better, and recent information suggesting that smaller companies are enjoying the biggest successes at the moment seem accurate, shining a good light on the prospects for engineering contractors entering the business at the moment. Smaller firms seem to be prospering because they offer far better career prospects than some of their big competitors, and they therefore snag some of the brightest new engineering minds – and many of the factors that make smaller companies so appealing also apply to individuals working for themselves. Here are a few of the most important similarities to take note of:

Better Career Progression

The smaller the company, the more opportunities there are to advance to the top – so those who seek a lot of advancement within their careers might do well to avoid larger firms that might never even notice, let alone take advantage of, their particular skills and their aspirations.

Part of the Bigger Picture

As an engineer working for a big company it’s incredibly easy to start feeling like nothing more than a small cog in a machine that you’ll never really see, and however much you love what you do, this can become a little demoralising over time. It’s far more rewarding to be able to look at your work as though it’s part of a bigger system, and understanding the full operation that you’re part of can also help with that growth we were just talking about as well.

Space to Think

Do you want to tick boxes, engineering parts to fit pre-set specifications, or do you want to have a degree of creative input into what those specifications actually are? In a smaller company, or if you chose to work as a contractor, people are going to expect more from you in terms of both ideas and general contribution; this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, as you’ll get the chance to add something of real value and potentially see your own tweaks and innovations come into fruition.

There are many, many benefits to working as part of a small, or even a solo business – we’ve only touched on just a few of them today. That said, there are also many challenges, and it never hurts to ask for external help for services such as accountancy. ICS would love to help you take your career as an engineering contractor to the next level, and we can do that by taking care of your accountancy, leaving you free to innovate and expand; have a look at our contractor calculator to see just how much you could be saving by utilising our services. Simply get in touch online or by calling 0800 195 3750 and we’ll be happy to give you all of the details you need.