We saw the traditional "IBM for life" sort of career path on the horizon in the rearview mirror long before the current economic crisis. Even then, for some, jobs at small companies held their own allure.

With more than 180,000 tech jobs cut in 2008, though, thousands more workers no doubt will find an obvious attraction -- “Salary versus no salary,” as Lancet Software VP Randy Mattran put it.

But small companies also can offer employees flexibility and the chance to expand their range of skills through experimentation and innovation, according to Elaine Varelas, managing partner at career management company Keystone Partners.

The key to success for those coming from huge corporations, she says, is to have clear expectations on both sides.

Bill Karpovich, cofounder and CEO of commercial open source software company Zenoss, expressed the opportunities like this: “As much as you can do, you can do it in a small company.”

IT Business Edge’s Paul Mah recently wrote that this down economy could prove a prime time for small businesses to find the talent they need – and potentially for salaries that SMBs can afford.

Career Path

Mattran and Karpovich, whose companies each have around 50 employees, disputed the notion that job-seekers will have to significantly lower their sights on salary at small companies. They say there’s little, if any, difference in overall compensation arrangements.

Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology, says its recent IT Hiring Index and Skills Report found candidates with specific IT skills continue to be in demand.

Security skills, especially, are a hot area, as other analysts have noted. The free report does not track skills by company size, though it does offer average salary ranges for various positions. It found small and midsize businesses were only slightly less likely to be hiring than the largest companies.

Varelas says that despite all the news of massive layoffs, nearly every company she talks to these days, regardless of size, has one or two openings. Many companies stay small by choice while still competitively recruiting top people. But she says companies are looking for more than a specific specialty.

“You need those specialized skills and this broader view of the business, a cooperative nature, the ability to bring in business, the ability to develop internal staff. They’re looking for someone who’s a significant value-add. You’ve got to do the job, but what else do you bring to the table?” she says.

With the job market so competitive right now, though, Varelas says it’s challenging to find those openings and job-seekers will have to do way more networking than they’ve ever done in the past. And they’ll have to do their homework about potential employers’ financial stability.

Mattran and Karpovich say the biggest difference, though, in working for a small company comes in gaining more control over your own career.

Said Karpovich:

“I can look [a job candidate] in the eye and say, ‘We have the cash we need to withstand this storm … Here’s the company in very simple terms, here’s the money we have and you can be part of our success.’ And it’s not going to be a function of some corporate guy who made some bad investments.

“I think that transparency is key, because then people can really understand the risks. If you’re in a big company, your division could be doing well, but some corporate decision is made seven layers away and the next thing you know, you’re laid off.”

Mattran echoes that notion: “Just the emotional and mental state of being more in control of your own destiny and having more influence over where your bread and butter’s coming from is just a comforting thing.”

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