I’ve worked at large companies and small ones. I feel its actually harder to get work done at a larger company. Some people like the pace of a larger company. Sometimes it feels like you are more time to get work done because the teams are larger and work is split apart. That may seem the case but when work sliced up into smaller portions it feels like its harder to make an impact (more on that later). So with that mind, when working at a larger company you really do have make an concerted effort to get the point to your boss that you are making an impact at several levels. Think about the following:
- Making sure you work on a project that makes an impact across the largest number of users.
- Being proactive (same as a smaller company), so figuring out problems before they become a problem.
- Helping other engineers (especially if you are a senior engineer).
- Building relationships with other engineers so you can rely on good feedback.
In a small company, I feel you get more responsibility and you get more control over decisions regarding the architecture and design of the product. It just seems obvious because of the smaller team size there is more work to do and you can make those kind of decisions.
I do enjoy working and I enjoy programming so I do welcome the autonomy and ability to make a sizeable impact while working at a smaller company. That begin said, it is good to work on a larger company because of the financial stability and other perks (free lunches, better healthcare, 401k matching, etc). Just keep in mind you are (usually) being ranked in a much more formal process vs other engineers and you need to realize exactly what metrics are used.