I am a CSM at a company of around 5,000 employees and I've worked here for 3.5 years. I started my CSM career here so my knowledge of this field on a broader scale is pretty limited.

I am severely burnt out right now due to constant layoffs over the past 2 years that seem to be happening more and more frequently. I'm starting to feel like my work is irrelevant, since my book of business keeps shrinking from churns and my lower revenue accounts being moved to a self-serve AI CSM that I worry will soon replace my job entirely. New business is slow, so this steady decline of work in my book of business is worrying and I can't really do anything to change it. I need to find a new job at this point since there is no hope this will change anytime soon and I don't want to be here long enough to be laid off next.

In this extremely competitive job market, I've come to the conclusion that my best chances of finding new work are at small startups, since the level of entry for new CSMs is more viable for someone like me with only 3 years of experience.

I'm hoping to gain some perspective here from CSMs who work at small startups in 2024 (series A - series D type of size). Is it worth it? Are there better career growth opportunities? What is job security like? Any type of personal accounts and advice would be so helpful. I'm interviewing with a series A startup this afternoon, so hoping for the best!

EDIT: I worked at a series a startup over 5 years ago… so I know the craziness that comes with that environment but not as it applies to CX or in this post-covid world