*Props to my colleague Christina Woodward for suggesting this topic. She left a big company (Pepsi) a year ago to join our little start up Seven Step Recruiting and had thoughts to share about how this type of move affected her job search with us and other smaller companies she interviewed with.

Since it is much more common for candidates to go from a big company to a small company when changing jobs than the other way around, it's important that people understand how to navigate through the associated interview obstacles with making this kind of move.

It's simple really. Establish strong rationale for wanting to do this and realistic expectations of what will be different about working for a smaller company. You'll need to have both sets of answers ready to go if you want to have a successful interview and get hired for the job.

Here's what goes through a Hiring Manager's head when they interview a candidate coming out of a very large organization to come join their small company or start up:

"We'll never get this guy. He's probably not all that serious about coming to work here."

"How will I keep her challenged? She's worked on projects twice as big and much more complex than what we are working on here."

"We'll never be able to pay her as much as she is making now."

"He won't be up for doing the grunt work involved since, in his current job, he has someone else to do that for him."

"I can't offer him a fancy title, nice office, parking spot, company gym membership..."

It's true. This is what some of them will think. Believe it or not, sometimes hiring managers will even pass over a resume of a candidate coming out of a Fortune 100 company simply because they don't think they have a shot.

So how do you overcome this stigma and clear up any of these wrong perceptions so that the manager does not become intimidated, insecure or unclear about hiring you?

Have Strong Rationale for Wanting to Work for a Small Company - More money, a brand name, a plush office, slick technology, company perks...are all great things to have, let's face it. But at the end of the day, none of these things are the true root of a person's motivation and career ambition. Think through what would make it worthwhile to you to walk away from these types of things. Some examples:

• CULTURE: looking for a more positive, personalized and team-based work culture. (the big company mentality can occasionally be pretty cut throat, dehumanizing and homogeneous as opposed to the positive camaraderie and personal attention that exists within a smaller company).

• SCOPE: wanting to have more exposure to the whole process, not just one part. (The big company focus tends to be highly segmented and more compartmentalized. People don't get the experience of carrying things through their full life cycle like they would in a smaller company where headcount is more constrained and people must have a much broader focus).

• FULFILLMENT: wanting to feel more accomplished in what they do and excited to go into work each day. (The big company culture typically lacks the kind of genuine recognition, purpose and appreciation that you'll find more often in smaller companies).

• GROWTH: wanting an environment that offers the right kind of opportunity track. (Big companies tend to have slower and heavily policy or tenure-based promotion systems vs smaller companies that have the potential to grow much faster and promotion systems that are typically based on merit).

Have Realistic Expectations About What Will Be Different - And trust me, it will be different. You need to not only understand this, but make sure the Hiring Manager knows you understand this. Don't make them read your mind. Articulate to them your realistic expectations so that these things don't end up being incorrectly assumed and hurt your candidacy.

• MONEY: If you know your current compensation package is well above what the smaller company is offering. Remind them again WHY you want this job (examples above) and tell them you understand that the compensation will be different and are willing to take a step back. But also ask if there are any other performance based income vehicles or other incentives that could apply to your role. Who knows? Maybe their could be?

• PERKS: Say it out loud. Joke around about not having the things you have at your current company (your own office, cutting edge technology, special benefits) and explain that these things aren't as important to you as the culture, scope, fulfillment or growth of the new job you are taking. If they hear you say it and dismiss it as unimportant, they can take it off their mind. Ex: "What gets me out of bed in the morning to go to work is not the view from my office and $1000 Herman Miller chair, it's doing something that's challenging and provides a real purpose and doing all of this with a team of people I respect and appreciate."

• RESOURCES: Let them know that you understand that working for a smaller company means less resources to get things done. No more Project Managers (to drive direction and time frames) or underlings (to handle the grunt work). Explain that you are looking forward to being self-managing and carrying a lot more responsibility in both the planning and supporting tasks involved in your work. There will also be less "cash" resources available. Tell the manager that you like the challenge of figuring out the solutions under a more constrained budget and you can handle that responsibility.

If you explain WHY you want to do this and WHAT you expect, Hiring Managers will see nothing but your obvious qualifications and common sense and will hire you for sure!