Bangalore: “With seven years of experience that I hold, I know that the company where I am will not help me excel in my skills as my job is defined. And in such a circumstance, I surely look forward to join a startup to sharpen my skills and propel my growth,” says Pradyuman Naik who works in an MNC and handles a team of seven members. He is not the only person to have such an opinion.

In a recent opinion poll conducted by SiliconIndia among the experienced employees, 75 percent of respondent who hold more than 5 years of experience in their relative field said that they were willing to join a startup if they were provided with an additional 10 percent increment over their present salary along with some stake in the company. “Proving an ownership in the company not only benefits startups in terms of saving cash, but also attracts employees like us who holds experience of more than five years to take risk as we then own a part of the company,” says Atul Prabhakar, senior IT professional in an MNC.

50 percent of the respondents who were willing to join a startup said that the most important thing that would attract them more than a higher salary package is the work culture. They said working in an MNC restricted their work within a particular limit, but they look forward to startups to gain more insight into the management and working process of the organization.

15 percent of the respondents who did not have any or less than five years of experience were showing more enthusiasm towards joining a startup. They felt that a startup would provide them more scope to explore their strengths and weaknesses. Akansha who holds two years of experience in technical department, says, “I have an experience of two years working in a startup. I have messed my hands with mud and it is a great feeling. Mine was never a defined work and so today, I know how to handle the issues related to technical department. I know this will help my resume in the future.”

10 percent of the remaining respondents were not eager to join startup as they think that it is quite risk taking with their current portfolio. They were satisfied with their own defined job and said that their yearly increment is nowhere to go. “Why take risk with our carrier. If the startup fails then we need to start afresh searching for a job,” says Suman S., a software professional in a MNC with 12 years of experience.

While contrary to this, Pallavi K., who holds 20 years of experience working as an architect in a big corporate house, says, “I don’t mind giving my well settled carrier a risk gear and join a startup. Even if the startup shuts down after a year or two due to any reason, no one is going to take away my years of experience. Ya, surely the few months when I will be jobless searching for a new job would pinch me for a while, but it is worth taking this risk as I would get a lot of exposure and a very different work environment to excel my skills further.”