I vastly prefer smaller companies due to the outsized impact each employee can have on the success of the entire organization, and the ability to wear different hats.
Barring that, I prefer a Google/Microsoft/etc big 5 company.
I don't personally feel like there's a lot of draw to a low level position at mid-sized companies, and I've worked at a few. You're going to sacrifice the personal agency you get as soon as you go above, say, 10-15 engineers. So if you're going to do that, you might as well go all the way and get the massive paychecks, benefits, valuable stock, fringe benefits, and the in-place infrastructure.
If I were looking for positions higher up the chain (CTO, Director, etc), then mid sized companies start to look more interesting because you have the opportunity to have that impact with a big team and product that's already in place.
Barring that, I prefer a Google/Microsoft/etc big 5 company.
I don't personally feel like there's a lot of draw to a low level position at mid-sized companies, and I've worked at a few. You're going to sacrifice the personal agency you get as soon as you go above, say, 10-15 engineers. So if you're going to do that, you might as well go all the way and get the massive paychecks, benefits, valuable stock, fringe benefits, and the in-place infrastructure.
If I were looking for positions higher up the chain (CTO, Director, etc), then mid sized companies start to look more interesting because you have the opportunity to have that impact with a big team and product that's already in place.