Why I Don’t Work At Google

#1

Post by bootload » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:06 PM UTC

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#2

Post by clemesha » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:34 PM UTC

Damn, I really, really agree with this:

  I know that while it’s important to write quality software,
  it’s equally important to just fucking finish it.

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#3

Post by adityakothadiya » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:35 PM UTC

I think the correct title would have been - "Why I won't work at Microsoft, again.".

I don't think it's a valid argument against Google without having any data-points. I've seen many Startups also don't finish their features/products and throw away when they realize this is not the right thing to do.

Overall, don't generalize too much. Experiences are different for different people at different places.

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#4

Post by lanstein » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:35 PM UTC

I'm waiting for the part where she explains why she doesn't work at Google.

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#5

Post by inerte » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:41 PM UTC

clemesha wrote: post #2

Damn, I really, really agree with this: I know that while it’s important to write quality software, it’s equally important to just fucking finish it.

I read it sometime in the past as "shipping is a feature".

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#6

Post by spaghetti » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:41 PM UTC

Have you considered Fogcreek? "Smart and gets things done" seems to be a strong theme throughout the company.

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#7

Post by Tichy » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:41 PM UTC

Can't you ask questions about the team during the interview, to gauge whether they get things done or not?

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#8

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:44 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#9

Post by antirez » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:47 PM UTC

adityakothadiya wrote: post #3

I think the correct title would have been - "Why I won't work at Microsoft, again.". I don't think it's a valid argument against Google without having any data-points. I've seen many Startups also don't finish their features/products and throw away when they realize this is not the right thing to do. Overall, don't generalize too much. Experiences are different for different people at different places.

Right, but look at google's recent history: more and more people, and in some way, less and less signal generated.

This is some truly unavoidable thing I guess, unless you do some radical stuff like splitting apart your company in different pieces, like anti trust itself would do?

Also for me is truly disturbing the idea of being able to select people that will do great stuff just using an interview. You can just check if they understand big O, can design things, and are actually able to code. This is already a result, but I bet this also creates a monoculture as this way you create a filter that is not just cool, but also bad in some way (IMHO this is why Google fails when trying to design stuff that are designed for the masses).

disclaimer: I got a request for interview from google two times and refused it, so I'm not frustrated about that or alike.

Re: Why I Don’t Work At Google

#10

Post by seldo » Fri, May 28, 2010, 11:48 PM UTC

spaghetti wrote: post #6

Have you considered Fogcreek? "Smart and gets things done" seems to be a strong theme throughout the company.

As long as you don't mind working on boring software. (I mean, I know Joel is everyone's nerd idol and everything, but really: bug tracking software? Version control? That's all you got?)