9 Companies That Can Make or Break Your Career

9 Companies That Can Make or Break Your Career9 Companies That Can Make or Break Your Career You may think its all about what you do that helps you climb the corporate ladder or keeps you on the bottom zustromg. But where you work and whom you work for also play a large part in the success- or lack thereof- in your career. In other words, there are companies that can make your career- and there are ones that will break it . To help you know the difference, here are nine you should work for or run from.Dont shy away from a small company, or one run by a family. What it may lack in industry heft, it may make up for in more personalized relationships and career development at a mom-n-pop outfit, you may find you get more face-time with your boss, whos willing to teach you the ins and outs of the business. Or maybe youll the chance to move up more quickly through the ranks. Either way, it might be worth it.When youve got careergoals, its only smart to hitch your wago n to a company thats on the rise. A fast-growth outfit is headed up theyre hiring for all the right reasons, creating new positions, earning new clients, and finding other ways to expand- all of which meanthat theres ample opportunity for you to really spread your wings here. In a fast-growth outfit, you dont feel the need to leave, because a new opportunity could be just one door down.3. The Business With a Great LeaderAs they say, success trickles down from the top. When you work for a company with a great leader - one who leads by example, whos willing to berater and teach , who cares about your success as an individual as much as he cares about the success of the company- you cant help but shine and move quickly up the corporate ladder. Some places set the standard for the whole industry, and those are the companies for which you want to work. Theyre the best of the best , and who doesnt want to learn from the best- and put the best on your resume? You dont have to stay i n this kind of company forever but stay long enough to learn the ropes and earn bragging rights for your next gig, which will appreciate benefitting from all you learned there. A company with a high-turnover is a big red flag . Think about it if its employees are constantly jumping ship, that doesnt say anything good about the management or the company itself. And if the company is always firing its employees, you wont be able to work without fear that youll be the next one on the proverbial chopping block- and working in a state of anxiety wont exactly inspire your best performance. Aim instead to work for a company people would hate to leave because its that great.Theres a difference between working for an inspiring leader , which can make your career, and working for a leader who wont share his or her success with the rest of the team. In top-heavy companies, leaders snag the credit for every single success while passing the blame to their employees for every single thing t hat goes wrong. Thats bad for a few reasons it can be difficult to rise through the ranks in this kind of company, and it can be tough to build up a resume with a boss who wont admit you ran a stellar campaign or brought in new business. Try instead to work for a company with a leader unafraid to recognize your good work and help you improve.When you think of a company with poor work culture , you might picture those with drama thats played out in newspapers or on TV- the kind youd be embarrassed to keep on your resume. And thats something that can break your career. But even if a companys culture hasnt made it to the news- or the ears of industry insiders- it can still hold you back. Thats because a company with a negative culture can leave you frustrated, uninspired, and unmotivated- which wont help you move up in this company or move on to the next. Instead, you should want to work somewhere that inspires all its employees to do their best - and that will reward them for hard work.You could waste years of your career at this kind of company- the kind that always promises a promotion or a raise but never, ever delivers. Perhaps they drew you in with the promise of increasing your compensation after a review- but they always have an excuse for never scheduling it. Or maybe they told you that most employees move into new, better roles after a year- and youve been in the same position for three years now. Either way, youre going nowhere fast. Work for a company with a proven track record of keeping its promises, and you can make your career instead. You may be long done with college, but your education should continue throughout your career- and its key to find an employer whos willing to help facilitate that continued education, in the form of supporting you on conferences, classes, training, and other development opportunities. If a company is content to keep you stagnant, youre in a job, that will ultimately be a dead end, and you may find yourself l ooking for a new job ASAP. So when or if you do, look for companies that value education.