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My Google Internship

goldsborough.me

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Re: My Google Internship

#121

Post by cromwellian »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #106
cromwellian wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I left the office at 5:40pm tonite, about majority of my team had already left. Most Googlers I encounter are extremely humble. I'd say one of the most valuable things about Googley culture is the lack of prima donna alpha-male macho-engineer behavior. Because Google has so many highly skilled engineers, and because it frowns in general on being an egotistical jerk, it's hard for even huge egos not to adopt some humi…

That company culture must look really different from in there than it does from out here.

Given how about 90% of your posts on HN are attacking Google, that Googlers have continued to try to engage you in rational discussion nicely speaks volumes.

Re: My Google Internship

#122

Post by Jaruzel »

photogrammetry wrote: post #51
gmurphy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Googler posted on their blog that they were looking, so I emailed him and he referred me. At the time I had dropped out of an EE+CS degree, had four years of suit-wearing professional experience writing enterprise webapps in PHP and ColdFusion, was halfway through a part-time Masters Degree in Design, and had a bunch of small JavaScript/C++/Art side projects. They hired me as a SWE, am now in UX. I won't pretend th…

What's your salary/compensation?

One of the problems with working for a high profile tech company (that isn't a startup) is that the Salary package is never that great, compared to say, Financial IT in the same geo-location. Most people work at these places for the culture, kudos, and not to get rich per se.

I've had several offers to go work for Microsoft (as that's where my skills lie) but I've turned them down as they all involved a hefty pay cut that I couldn't afford to do.

Re: My Google Internship

#123

Post by Jaruzel »

cromwellian wrote: post #49
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hate reading people believe they aren't skilled enough or won't be good enough to work at Google. When you realize all of the toys are part of an extremely successful strategy to keep you at the office as long as possible, and that Google is a huge company that has to hire thousands of people every year, you realize that this view that Google is "the best place to work" or that everyone who works there is a…

I left the office at 5:40pm tonite, about majority of my team had already left. Most Googlers I encounter are extremely humble. I'd say one of the most valuable things about Googley culture is the lack of prima donna alpha-male macho-engineer behavior. Because Google has so many highly skilled engineers, and because it frowns in general on being an egotistical jerk, it's hard for even huge egos not to adopt some humi…

> I'd say one of the most valuable things about Googley culture is the lack of prima donna alpha-male macho-engineer behavior.

I'd love to work in a place like that. I'm sick and tired of people riding rough-shod over others in the workplace just because they think they are better than them.

Most places now value the voice of the loudest shouter, over the voice of the experienced knowledgeable specialist, so much in fact that everything becomes a dick measuring contest. As someone who doesn't identify as a typical male, this makes for a very uncomfortable working environment.

Re: My Google Internship

#124

Post by gaius »

thewhitetulip wrote: post #114
wsh91 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I know others on here have already chimed in, but I joined Google not that long ago having been rejected twice before. Please don't sell yourself short. Give us a try.

I live in India, have written a tutorial on Go, https://github.com/thewhitetulip/web-dev-golang-anti-textboo... , am decent with Go, am learning Vue.js, writing book on it as well, http://github.com/thewhitetulip/intro-to-vuejs/ . I am a full geek, applied twice. Didn't get any reply! edit: changed book to tutorial

No disrespect intended, but if you have on your CV that you have "written a book" and it turns out not to be an actual book, with an actual publisher, in actual bookstores, it will create a bad impression with most interviewers. You should rephrase it as an "online tutorial" or something.

Re: My Google Internship

#125

Post by gaius »

dingaling wrote: post #118
amputect wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it is, but I think the implementation matters. In my building on the Google Kirkland campus, we have men's and women's bathrooms in a few different places, and also one place where there's 5 single-occupancy unisex bathrooms and one mother's room. It's great! It doesn't take any space away from the other bathrooms, and it accommodates people who are uncomfortable in the cisgender multi-person bathrooms for whate…

> and one mother's room. As a primary-carer father raising a toddler I don't like that terminology. I'd prefer that they'd just call it a Lactating Room rather than trying to be coy and seemingly indicating a preference for one parent.

If you are a lactating male then you are in a very small minority. Why not just "baby care room"?

Re: My Google Internship

#126

Post by gaius »

deanCommie wrote: post #113
chmln wrote: post #58

Great read. However, he lost me at > Googley to stand up for diversity and inclusion, such as protesting against binary gendering on toilets Is it Google's business? Why should Google be involved? Why cater to 0.6% of the population, at the expense of convenience for the 99.4%? At my last job we had "non-binary", "all-inclusive" bathrooms. They're just awkward. Not the stalls themselves, but having to share the bathr…

What exactly is so awkward about sharing a bathroom with females?

It's like no-one saw Ally McBeal in the 90s.

Re: My Google Internship

#127

Post by thegenius2000 »

onion2k wrote: post #91
chmln wrote: post #58

Great read. However, he lost me at > Googley to stand up for diversity and inclusion, such as protesting against binary gendering on toilets Is it Google's business? Why should Google be involved? Why cater to 0.6% of the population, at the expense of convenience for the 99.4%? At my last job we had "non-binary", "all-inclusive" bathrooms. They're just awkward. Not the stalls themselves, but having to share the bathr…

Why cater to 0.6% of the population, at the expense of convenience for the 99.4%? Do all those 99.4% of people consider it an "expense"? A lot of people are happy to make a small sacrifice if it greatly benefits other people.

Very fair point, but what about the fraction of people who not only consider it an expense, but an affront to moral dignity? For example, Politico did a poll which showed that 46% of Americans believe that everyone should use the bathroom of their birth. Should their comforts be sacrificed for the sake of 0.6% of the population?

Re: My Google Internship

#128

Post by thewhitetulip »

gaius wrote: post #124
thewhitetulip wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in India, have written a tutorial on Go, https://github.com/thewhitetulip/web-dev-golang-anti-textboo... , am decent with Go, am learning Vue.js, writing book on it as well, http://github.com/thewhitetulip/intro-to-vuejs/ . I am a full geek, applied twice. Didn't get any reply! edit: changed book to tutorial

No disrespect intended, but if you have on your CV that you have "written a book" and it turns out not to be an actual book, with an actual publisher, in actual bookstores, it will create a bad impression with most interviewers. You should rephrase it as an "online tutorial" or something.

Thank you for the advice. I always tend to write a short tutorial, but then people ask, "what made you write the book" or "what's the structure of your book if I want to contribute". That's why I end up writing book. I will keep this tip in mind :-)

Re: My Google Internship

#129

Post by pearjuice »

popcorncolonel wrote: post #72
rifung wrote: post #33

It's already insane that you got an internship (at Google too!) in your first year of college, but you seem to have done extremely well there too. Nicely done! Seems like you're well on your way to being a very successful engineer.

And what's next in the path of a very successful engineer? 10 years down the line? 30? 40?

Writing snarky comments on HN seems to work for most people.

Re: My Google Internship

#130

Post by nedsma »

steven777400 wrote: post #3

I love reading accounts like this. It's fun and well written and I enjoy the photos too. I work in a cube farm of grey cubes on boring LoB applications. I know I'll never be skilled enough (or, more correctly, I'll never be ambitious enough to become skilled enough) to work at Google et al but it's really fun to sample the experience from the outside. :)

I suggest you read The Python Paradox (http://paulgraham.com/pypar.html), if you haven't already. It's not that your projects are simple, stupid, don't require skills (I believe it's actually quite the opposite), it's that your current skillset/projects aren't that exciting/sought after in the SV.
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