10 Reasons Why Graduates Prefer Getting Hired By A Startup The moment you hear about a startup a huge pay package and stock options comes to your mind!

The ongoing saga between India's premier institute and e-commerce firm Flipkart has not stopped graduates from seeking jobs at startups. Even as this issue hangs in, institutes are being approached by other startups for hiring those students, whose hiring was deferred by Flipkart.

Satyam Sinha, who owns an online job portal, talks about the factors that tempt graduates to take up jobs at startups.

More than a decade ago, when I joined the IT industry, the word startup was not so common. It was synonymous with a "Small Company" with Challenging work. In 2005, only 10% of my batch mates joined such small companies which operated out of residential or small commercial complexes. But now the time has changed and graduates in India are choosing to start their career with a startup. These are the 10 reasons why they are doing so

1) Experience a steep learning curve: When graduates come out of college, they are equipped with basic knowledge in various domains and technology. To survive in startup, you need to learn all the tricks of the trade in a short time. No one will guide you or spend time in training. You tend to learn on the job. You might be working on technical stuff but you will still get a chance for business development and digital marketing, which is an obvious role in a startup.

2) Higher Salary: The moment you hear about a startup a huge pay package and stock options comes to your mind. Startups pay a high package if they are well funded. If they are bootstrapped, they might pay you a competitive package as per the market standards but the take-home amount would be more. They might not be deducting PF from your salary.

3) Jobs for All: When MNCs visit the campus, they normally put a restriction that they would allow candidates with 60% and above in all the board exams. Some of the good candidates fail to meet the criteria if even if their percentage is 1% below the qualifying percentage. Normally startups do not have such restrictions. If you can fit in the job profile then you can come on board.

4) Open for All Stream of studies: If a student fails to qualify for a core company of his stream, he is left with no other options. For example, if a B.Tech guy with Civil or Instrumentation Control Engineering fails to clear the interview of a core company, his chance of getting a job will be less. However, the candidate might be suitable for Operations, Business Development role or Digital Marketing role for a startup.

5) Startup is a fad: Nowadays, most of the colleges have an Entrepreneurship cell and the students are getting exposure to the startup world. They are building connection with their alumni who are the co-founders of successful startups. The students are motivated by the success stories. There is a lot of media coverage for startup events. The Prime Minister of India has also launched campaign and policies for startup. Getting into a startup gives you the ticket to get famous once the startup gets funding or gets acquired by other famous companies.

6) Perceived to be smarter: If you clear complex interview rounds of a startup, you are perceived to be smarter than your peers. If your first job was at a startup, there are chances that you will get better opportunities in other early stage growth companies as well as established companies when you plan for a switch in career.

7) Building good connection: As the team size in startup is small, so you get access to the Co-Founders, Investors and they would definitely help you in the longer run once you build a good rapport with them. In 2004-2005, few of my classmates and seniors joined a startup which was run by a Harvard Graduate. The company was acquired in 2010. As it was a small team, so they knew each other. Some of my classmates still reach out to him for mentorship few have joined his new startup.

8) Launch pad for Wannabe Entrepreneurs: Many freshers want to join a startup as they dream of doing something of their own in the long run. Startups teach them how to run a company. I have come across through some freshers who have a family run business. They want to jump to the startup world so that they can explore more business opportunity and take their family business to the next level.

9) Better Designation: You can get a better designation in a startup. While you may struggle to get a prefix of "Senior' or "Lead' in an MNC, you may get these tags easily in a startup. If you started your career as a Junior HR Associate, you can become an HR Executive in one year provided you take up some responsibilities. The startups are also coining quirky designations like "Chief Geek Officer" or "Tech Alladin" .

10) Work Culture: When you think of a startup, you get a picture of an informal work environment where your work station is modified to a bean bag. The work environment is casual and relaxed, which improves creativity. You can find beer in the fridge on Fridays in some startups. In one of the startups, they have mentioned in the offer letter that they do not have a strict leave policy. They are building a team of self motivated individuals who can make responsible decision between leave and work. Of course the deliverable would matter.