When choosing a first job, many developers hesitate between an IT services company (known in France as an ESN), a startup and a software vendor. Strong opinions abound: the ESN is said to be a "consultant factory" where you get bored, the startup a place where you learn everything very quickly, the software vendor a stable but slow house. These caricatures contain some truth and many exceptions. This article honestly compares the three environments on what matters at the start of a career: variety of projects, skill development, pay, progression, and how a recruiter will later read each path on your resume.
What an IT services company is today
An IT services company (ESN, formerly called SSII) sells IT skills and projects to other organisations. The sector is represented notably by the trade body Numeum 🔗, and most of its companies apply the collective agreement known as Syntec, which can be consulted on the Code du travail numérique 🔗.
Very different realities lie behind the word.
- Large generalist IT services companies, present in many countries, covering consulting, development, infrastructure and managed services for large clients.
- Specialised IT services companies focused on a technology, a sector or a function (cybersecurity, data, cloud, banking, industry), often smaller and more technical.
- Technology consulting firms, on the border between consulting and engineering.
- Engineering companies working on fixed-price contracts, with teams delivering complete projects on their own premises.
Ways of working also vary. In technical assistance (time and materials), the consultant works at the client’s premises, integrated into their team. On a fixed-price basis, the company commits to a result and organises the work itself. In a service centre, a team from the company takes charge of a scope for one or more clients.
These differences matter more than the "ESN" label. A role in a fixed-price team developing applications end to end has nothing in common with a maintenance assignment at a client who only gives you minor tickets.
What you learn on assignment
The strengths
- Variety. In a few years, a consultant can experience several clients, sectors, organisations and stacks. This exposure is valuable at the start of a career, when you do not yet know what you prefer.
- Adaptability. Joining a new team, understanding existing code, fitting into a different culture: it is a skill in itself, much appreciated later on.
- Training. Many IT services companies have onboarding programmes for recent graduates, fund certifications and run internal technical communities.
- Access to large-scale projects, in sectors (banking, energy, transport, public administration) that a junior finds hard to enter directly.
Points to watch
- The choice of assignment depends partly on commercial needs. A first assignment with little learning value can drag on, and you need to know how to ask for a change.
- The bench period ("intercontrat"), the time between two assignments, is experienced very differently from one company to another: well-organised time for training and internal projects at some, a period of uncertainty at others.
- The dual reporting line to the company’s manager and to the client’s team can make evaluation and progression less clear.
- Technical depth: by moving from one project to the next, you risk never seeing the long-term consequences of your choices (maintenance, scaling, technical debt).
IT services jobs are not limited to development, either: many consultants work in business analysis and project ownership support (AMOA), at the interface between the client’s business teams and the technical teams. The resume of an AMOA consultant at a consulting firm 🔗 shows how this neighbouring job presents its assignments.
Startup and software vendor: a different pace
At a startup or scale-up
Working on the company’s own product changes your relationship with code: you live with your decisions, you see users react, you maintain what you built. In a startup, a junior can quickly touch many subjects (interface, API, database, deployment) and take on responsibilities.
There are trade-offs: sometimes limited mentoring, an organisation that changes often, strong delivery pressure, and a real economic risk if the company does not find its market or its funding. The quality of learning depends enormously on the presence of experienced developers in the team.
At an established software vendor
A mid-sized or large software vendor often combines the advantages of its own product with a structured organisation: stable teams, established practices (code reviews, tests, continuous integration), onboarding paths, internal career opportunities. The pace may seem slower, and a junior’s scope narrower at first.
It is often an excellent environment for learning the fundamentals of software engineering over time: maintaining a product used by many clients, managing compatibility, evolving an old codebase. The backend developer resume template shows a path through a payroll software vendor before a scale-up, two experiences that complement each other.
Progression and pay compared
The three environments offer different trajectories, with no absolute hierarchy.
- At an IT services company, progression often comes through growing technical expertise (lead, architect), managing projects or teams, or sales and consultant management roles. Pay scales are generally structured by degree level and experience.
- At a startup or scale-up, progression can be fast if the company grows: an early developer can become a tech lead or engineering manager within a few years. Pay may include BSPCE, whose value remains uncertain.
- At an established software vendor, levels are often formalised (junior, mid-level, senior, staff), with explicit criteria and a dual technical and managerial track.
As for pay itself, the gaps depend heavily on the company, the city and the profile. Our article on what a junior developer earns details the factors to consider and the public sources to consult.
One point deserves emphasis: the first job locks nobody in. Many developers start at an IT services company and then join a software vendor or a startup, and the reverse happens too.
How a recruiter reads each path
Your first employer will affect how recruiters read your resume for a few years. It is better to know this so you can present each path to its advantage.
A path at an IT services company is read through its assignments. A recruiter wants to know which assignments you actually carried out, with which technologies and responsibilities, and whether you managed to go deep. Present each assignment as an experience, with the client’s sector (without naming the client if confidentiality requires), the size of the team, the stack and your deliverables. Avoid the single line "Consultant at [company]" that hides everything you did.
A startup path is read through the product and growth. The recruiter looks for your scope, your autonomy and the results achieved. State the size of the company and the team, because "startup" covers five people as well as several hundred.
A path at a software vendor is read through quality and duration. The recruiter looks for solid practices, mastery of a complex product and your progression within the team. Highlight what you evolved or made more reliable.
The tech lead resume template illustrates a path through all three environments, each presented according to its own logic. For the search itself, our article on the first developer job offers a targeting method.
Whatever your path, the layout must keep each assignment readable. The TechCV editor structures your experience into clear blocks, with a context line and bullets, in a PDF that recruitment software can extract. You can organise your resume assignment by assignment.
Frequently asked questions
Is starting at an IT services company frowned upon by startups?
Not in itself. What counts is what you did on assignment. A developer who shipped features, worked in demanding teams and deepened a stack will be looked at with interest. A path made up only of short, superficial assignments will require more explanation.
How long should you stay at your first company?
There is no ideal length. Stay long enough to see the consequences of your work and take on responsibilities, often a few years. A very quick departure is justified if there is a real problem, and can then be explained simply in an interview.
Can you choose your assignment at an IT services company?
To some extent. State your technical and sector preferences from the hiring interview onwards, then at the end of each assignment. Some companies leave a lot of choice, others less: ask during recruitment.
What should you do during a bench period?
Use it to train, take a certification, contribute to internal projects or pre-sales, and update your resume with the assignment that has just ended. This time can be very useful if it is well used.