Product based companies- the perks!

Why should anyone join a product based company in the IT industry?

A large chunk of students graduate every year. Question them on their career plans, and some common answers anyone can expect to hear from most of them are “I want to get placed in a reputed IT firm”, “I want to join an MNC”, “ I just want a job in some software company!” . “IT firm, all right, but do you want to join a service based company or a product based company?” This question mostly draws blank stares or responses like “What difference is it going to make?”, “I don’t really care, as long as the pay is good”, “Whatever, I will just choose the company that is faring better.”

Now now, I am not judging any of your responses, but Graduates, listen up, it does make a difference! Many people end up saying all this because they don’t know much about product based companies, and most importantly, don’t know how different it is from service based companies. Here are five main reasons why you should seriously consider joining a product based company:

1. You get ownership to work

In simpler words, you get to be yourself because you can work your way. There may be a number of ways in which you can get something done, and you can choose what way it is going to be. Any product you build is going to be YOURS. So you get to decide how it is going to work for the customer, how they can customize it thereafter. So, functionally, you are in control of the product as much  as your client is. 

2. You get to learn and be creative at work.

Products are harder to build. Each part of the process will be a challenge, so you get to learn a lot, to innovate at it and thus do more. In many service based companies, the process of product development is task distributed where a person will be involved only in particular modules of development, leaving him/her with no idea of what he/she is doing but for his/her part. In product companies, you gain complete knowledge of the product being built.

3. Work with purpose

Most service companies cater to work outsourced to them by product companies abroad. So once a particular project is over, they start working on another project, and another project and another. This would be across different verticals, different industries. But in product based companies, you have complete knowledge of the business model and the product. This also means you do meaningful work, knowing what you are doing, in contrast to service based companies where you keep being given a number of tasks with no meaning, leaving you with no purpose for doing what you do. After all, to be a pro at something is any day better than to be lost at lots of things 😀 

4. Intrinsic motivation

Studies show that people perform better and are happier when they are intrinsically motivated. Product companies push you to perform. This means that you would be motivated from within, making work every day exciting for you!

5. You get opportunity to grow

Each product is different, each product is unique. You work on and build each product. So it is originally yours, and not a copy. You get to be different and to be authentic in what you do. Product based companies, unlike service based companies, look for sustainability. Hence, they work on building products which would last. This is growth for the company, and when the company grows, you grow.

A lot of people have started realizing the importance and impact of product based companies, which is evident from the attrition rates of service based companies,  or if one just picks up the newspapers for tech news! Ignorance should never rule when you are making a career choice. Always know where you are going, at least the path, if not the destination. A lot of people just end up following the crowd and being lost with the crowd, until one day they  look back and realize they haven’t accomplished what they could have.

Product based companies are great places for career growth. I don’t think anything can give one more pride than watching one’s work getting implemented, one’s ideas being materialized, across a number of platforms. And that feeling of belonging and sense of accomplishment, of being a part of the product development, is truly empowering. I hope YOU know where you are heading 🙂

Best of luck!

Note: This is written essentially keeping a software developer in mind.  But may it be business development, or marketing , or product management, product based companies generically offer the benefits mentioned above, in context to your role.