It’s not all bad news for the more than 275,000 workers who have been laid off from tech companies since last year.

Companies in a variety of established sectors—including finance, insurance, manufacturing and healthcare—are seizing the opportunity to hire exceptional technical talent. Throughout the year, these sectors have continued to hire tech professionals for a variety of roles, from data scientist to software developer.

But while changing industries can open the door to growth and new opportunities, you may experience culture shock and even buyer’s remorse unless you take the time to understand what you’re getting into and know how to adapt.

To help you get off on the right foot, we asked previous transitioners and recruitment experts to describe the major differences between technology-first companies and tech-enabled companies… and some tips for making a smooth transition.

Growth Mindset vs. Bottom-Line Growth Mindset

Leaders of technology companies typically adopt a “growth at all costs” mindset. They forgo profitability in order to scale fast and exploit gaps in the market, explained Doug Schade, technology recruitment consultant and VP at Planet Technology.

Conversely, leaders of mature companies are more cognizant of expenses. They view optimization as a discipline and technology as an enabler of new ways of working and products and services that drive bottom-line growth.

To experience continued success after a stint in tech, you may need to shift your attitude and find new, more effective ways to present your ideas and justify projects. “You can’t just do things,” Schade added. “You have to find ways to do things optimally.”

Former Facebook employee Matt Weingarten agrees with that observation. “You should be prepared to provide a comprehensive and persuasive argument for why something is worth designing and building,” said the senior data engineer, who currently works for Disney Streaming.

He further explained that priorities can shift quickly in a business with a profit-first strategy, especially if the going gets tough. That means you have to be okay with abandoning a project that you’ve worked hard on, making a sharp pivot and moving on to something else.

Because business motivations are different in tech-enabled companies, you need to know what those motivations are and be comfortable supporting them before you accept an offer.

External vs. Internal Customers

While both technology-driven and technology-enabled companies believe in catering to the needs of customers, who the customer is depends on the environment.

For instance, technology firms tend to focus on the needs of external customers who buy the company’s product or service. However, in tech-enabled companies, serving the needs of internal product users consumes the lion's share of the IT budget and staff time.

To cultivate productive relationships with internal stakeholders, you need the ability to identify and understand their needs and expectations in the current state and empathize with their pain points. You then need to be able to communicate your ideas in a way that “non-techies” can understand.

The question is: Are you ready, able and willing to make the switch?

Leading Roles vs. Supporting Roles

Perhaps the biggest difference between a tech-first and a tech-enabled company is the role that developers and software engineers play in driving the company forward. Tech pros who work for large tech companies are used to being at the forefront because the company’s success hinges on developing a quality product, validating the solution and capturing market share.

In a tech-enabled company, technology pros build platforms and tools that help others drive the business. That’s a big distinction.

Take the healthcare industry, for instance. While technology pros are desperately needed to enable digital health initiatives, it’s the physicians and nurses who are often hailed as the MVPs. It’s important to understand these subtle cultural nuances and how they affect organizational hierarchy, etiquette and communication.

Can you be happy in a supporting role? To find the answer to this conundrum, you need to research and understand the drivers of the business and what your role will be in achieving the company’s objectives and mission. Then consider how that aligns with your strengths and preferences.

Proprietary vs. Open Source

In a “born tech” company, you usually have the opportunity to create, design and support proprietary software that has been built from scratch.

“The infrastructure and systems at a big tech or FAANG company are so well-built and maintained that you can step right into the job and focus on making an impact,” Weingarten explained.

If you prefer variety, working with an open-source tech stack that has changed over the years at a mature company can be more interesting (but a lot more demanding, as well).

Keep in mind that the skills you acquired working with proprietary programs may not be transferable. You may need to update your open-source skills and knowledge to ace an interview at a tech-enabled company and ensure that you get off to a fast start.

Performance Compensation vs. Equity Compensation

You can tell a lot about a company by examining how they structure compensation and salary to attract, reward and retain the talent to achieve their goals.

For example, established companies tend to offer lower base salaries and relatively high levels of year-end bonuses (30 percent of total comp) tied to an individual's or team's contributions toward its profit objectives. Meanwhile, tech-first companies rely heavily on stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) to recruit and motivate top talent.

Given that compensation is the main driver of employee satisfaction and turnover, it is critical to consider the differences in compensation before making the leap from Big Tech to a tech-enabled company.