You’ve been interviewing at a number of companies, some large, some medium, some small. You have a few choices and none are wrong, and they all have their pros and cons. 

The idea of being a cog in a machine at something like Facebook doesn’t attract you. Please don’t @ me, I really have no idea what working at Facebook as a designer is like. However, from what I’ve been told at companies like this is the amount of impact and development is challenging. Often features take forever to complete due to engineering, priorities, politics, and redundant approvals. It can be tedious and you likely won't be able to shine.

On the other end of the spectrum, you’re a bit hesitant to be the only design at a company. Will people get me? Will they get “design”? Will I be pushed around and be doing things I “didn’t sign up for”? These are all legitimate fears and questions. The beauty of them all is that you are in control of those questions as the only designer. You get to shape the impact design has, you get to shape design as a function within the company, you are in control of the narrative. In the former, there’s about 100+ people higher up in control of the narrative. 

Now that I have your attention, this article will help guide you in those questions, but more importantly give you a formula for success on the things you need to establish.