Working with large companies

Has anyone who is from a small firm (10 employees or less) speak about their experiences in working with Fortune 500 companies. In particular, getting on an approved vendor list. I recently had an opportunity with a technology giant, but was ruled out because of the size of my company. I assume that the hesitation is that our reach would not be big enough to support all of their hiring channels.

Just curious to see if anyone has had similar experiences and best course of action ideas in the future

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Permalink Reply by Ross Cooper on October 1, 2008 at 9:26am

We are a two person firm and although we do work with some large companies ie: Qualcomm, AMD, National Semi, etc.. I would much rather work with small start-ups or mid size. There is much less red tape, more access directly to the hiring manager, don't have to submit through HR, quick feedback, etc.. I find the start-ups where I work with the Directors, VPs or CEOs are my bread and butter. Any company where I don't have to work with/talk with HR is MY kind of company!! You know what "HR" stands for in this industry don't you??? ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Chantel on October 1, 2008 at 11:49am

Michael, I work for a small firm (10 employees) and do some work with large Fortune 500 companies. However, in every instance I have a relationship with a direct hiring manager who is willing to buck the system and work outside the vendor list. In many cases managers aren't willing to get their hand slapped by HR, but if you can find the ones who will - it can pay off. That being said, working with small to mid-sized companies tends to be a better fit for our firm. It also gets you out of trying to match a riduculous rate from a large high-volume shop.