Thinking of Working for A Startup as an Expat? Here’s Why you should.
Perspectives from an American in Germany
I like to think that every person has some sort of desire to grow and change over the course of their career, alongside earning their daily Brot. The reasons behind it can differ, because people are unique — some might want to be better than they were the day yesterday, or better than competitors, while others might just want to keep things interesting and experience work differently as the days, months, and years go by.
It sort of follows, then, that everyone likes to feel that they are getting smarter, more skilled, more knowledgeable, and more appreciated within the jobs that they work over the course of their careers. Again, the level of growth and the kind of growth that people look for might differ from person to person, but in general, no one likes to feel stuck.
Growing my own skill set and learning more about different topic areas and best practices is something important to me, so when I first entered the German job market, I looked specifically for jobs that would allow me to do that. For me, at that early stage of my working life here, that meant securing a position in a larger corporate environment. I figured that companies like this, ones with lots of money, resources, and stability, would also have plenty of avenues for a person to explore and innovate outside her role, and that those resources could easily be used for that purpose.
However, my experience working for one of Munich’s big blue chips taught me that the opposite could also be true. At a certain size, companies have a lot that’s already defined and scoped out, and it’s not as simple to carve your own path into areas you might be interested in.
So, I started looking into smaller ecosystems and at clusters of businesses that weren’t as well defined or strongly established, and — surprise, surprise — I found that they are often much better places for adjusting the trajectory of your career. I think this is at least partly because the companies here are often in a state of high growth themselves. The types of businesses that usually make up these types of ecosystems? You guessed it: startups.
Often the normal flow of things is to start with the larger companies that have higher budgets, employee benefits, and security. I can agree with this approach, except for the fact those types of companies tend to lack opportunities for innovation within set roles. Sometimes they have innovation labs, sure, but that ends up being just a small slice of the overall organization and not representative of the culture there.
I’ve always preferred having my successes at a job be based more on the merits of what I produce and the ideas I bring to the table than politics or maneuvering. I like working at places where team members and superiors take more than just a passing interest in new ideas and individual growth. Working for startups, I was happy to find that this attitude is alive and well.
Push for what you know you can do
One of my favorite parts about working in this type of lean and open-minded environment was the multitude of ways one can contribute to the company’s innovation right from the start.
My current position is a fantastic example of the direct benefits that working for a startup provides. Eleven months ago I joined the company I’m at (Freeletics) as a Junior Social Media Manager. For those who aren’t that familiar with what this job usually entails: it’s a position which typically is an entry-level one, and as such it can be very much about executing tried-and-true processes.
In the case of a social media role, it can be a bit admin heavy. Basically (and I’m oversimplifying for effect)a social media junior’s life is often “get content, post content, listen, respond…rinse and repeat”.
Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this! In fact, the normal functions of the role are actually a great way to get an up-close understanding of the always-changing social media landscape and the conversations on it. And the reason I mention it in this case is because it hasn’t been the typical junior social media role at my startup; it’s been a lot more growth-oriented.
For someone who’s already up to speed with the basics, actively creates across channels in her personal life, and wants to stay ahead of the curve, it’s hard to ignore the desire to bring a little bit more to a junior role — in my case, it was sparks of ideation, coordination with multimedia creators, and advocating for the power of social media to help audiences understand and experience our brand better.
Yes, I wanted to take my scope far beyond copywriting, curation, and posting. But would it be accepted? I had to give it a shot.
And here’s where the startup mentality and openness to innovation and creative thinking comes in. My manager took note of how eager I was to take on larger challenges, and directly from the start let me take on more and more projects that were strategy-focused.
Within three months I was able to branch out even further than I had imagined, and I was happily surprised that it was able to happen so quickly. Here’s just a bit of what I was able to start doing, alongside my existing responsibilities:
- Research & development of new content formats (quite a few, I’m proud to say!)
- Generating ideas for individual assets and asset series
- Pitching the results of my ideation sessions to the team & decision makers
- Storyboarding video content
- Briefing productions
- On-set coordination at an international video shoot
- Taking the lead on the strategy and execution of a live streaming series (multiple channels, multiple languages)
If it sounds like quite a lot more than what a junior social media manager usually does, it’s because it kind of is.
Okay, I realize that sounds a bit braggy, but it is the truth, and the main point of me saying it isn’t to give myself a public pat on the back, but really just to give you the sense that, in startup environments, if you ask to do something you think you can do that can help the business, you have a good chance at expanding your portfolio of responsibilities.
I took my shot by expressing my interest to key people within my team, and the result was that I was able to find myself doing more of what I really enjoy and what interests me in the world of content.
This wider scope of work hasn’t always been smooth sailing, of course. That’s usually the case when you’re trying to do new things. If you try doing this yourself, expect challenges, and expect to feel tired from time to time because you are pushing to do and be more.
In my case, I’m grateful that many of my initiatives have been seeing good results. And, when performance is good, the opportunities to continue also increase, and the momentum pushes you forward.
From conceptualization to completion
I’ll wrap up with an example of a success that I’m proud of, one that is a direct result of embracing the startup mentality and taking initiative.
This was one content project we did for our Instagram channel. It is by no means anywhere near as large as some of my other projects, but I find it to be a great example of how to pilot a new concept in a grassroots way in your role.
When Instagram was just beginning to roll out their Reels video feature, my team was searching for ways that we could make the most of what it enables us to do. The team as a whole was uncertain where to start and unsure about which style of content would best perform in the format.
Having been a social video creator for a few years now, and just as someone who spends a good amount of time around that kind of content on the web, I felt I had a good grasp of the kind of strategy that might work for us. I was also pretty confident (and excited) to put together a solid example of this content for our particular audience, and my manager agreed to let me give it a try.
Now, mind you, I am part of the Digital Brand Team. My formal tasks lie around ensuring the brand is effectively placed in our social media presence — I’m not production coordinator, not a scriptwriter, and definitely not one of the subject-matter experts on the video topic or on the digital product. I’m just a junior team member who really enjoys this kind of stuff and a good idea that my manager and team felt was worth trying. So, I was given the green light and got to try out all those hats.
As I said, right now I’m no expert, but I do have a lot of support from my colleagues who are knowledgeable and experienced in their own respective fields of branding and content marketing. Together we were able to ensure that this pilot content was accurate and on brand, that the production was able to happen smoothly, that I support for the copy, and even that my own post-production edits were accepted (the creative team didn’t need to modify anything aside from adjusting the text format on the overlays).
You can see the finished product below.
With the help of some colleagues, we organized this Reel:
…which turned out to be one of our highest new performing assets, an asset which I was allowed to personally conceptualize, direct, produce, post-produce, and even sort of promote (I had my copy accepted for the caption that ran on our channels — and yes, I am quite proud of that one.
Find the opportunity that’s right for you
I enjoy working for a startup for transparency in the hierarchy. Ideas are supported and there’s always a lot of opportunities provided. In truth, of course, it is a lot of extra work in comparison, and not for everyone. But if you are like me and favor continually finding new ways to challenge your experience, then I would say that’s why you should work for a startup.
