My Google job was tedious and pointless • Hacker News Board

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#51

Post by greggarious » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

cromwellian wrote: post #16

ogre_magi wrote: post #12

I worked at Google in a more technical role but I sympathize with this guy. The culture was awful and empty. It was sugar-coated candies and colors and happy, happy, happy like it was meant for a kindergartener. The politics were thick and covered everything. Executives got on stage at a company meeting and cried about the election. It was a cult, and not in the good way that a startup can sometimes be, but in a stal…

To be fair, a lot of people were upset over the election, and given what's happened over the last ten months, those feelings seem to have been justified. But yeah, god damn a company for having a culture where people don't go around acting like jerks towards one another. God forbid we grow out of Kindergarten and get back to the real world where people are unhappy and take out their frustrations by raking their cowor…

>But yeah, god damn a company for having a culture where people don't go around acting like jerks towards one another. God forbid we grow out of Kindergarten and get back to the real world where people are unhappy and take out their frustrations by raking their coworkers verbally over the coals.

The idea that as long as you aren't yelling, swearing, or actively insulting someone you are not treating them poorly is one of the biggest failures of Google (and other Bay Area companies') internal culture.

Verbal abuse is not ok, but even polite disagreement can be a career limiting move in such an environment.

And let me be clear: I'm not talking James Damore "I'm just expressing an alternative opinion" low boil misogyny. That kind of thing is unacceptable.

But it's really easy to slip into an echo chamber, especially when a lot of what Bay Area companies work on is qualitative. (E.g. pretty much anything related to UX, policy)

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#52

Post by alex_hitchins » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #32

mulletbum wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? When the election is making their company have a difficult time becoming a more successful work place? I think it's a company, people can say what they like, if Google doesn't like it as a whole, they can fire said employee.

They have all the tools to make their company a better place no matter who is elected. Complaining is just a cheap way to excuse not doing anything.

I'd say their access to the White House would be considered one of those tools. The removal of which could give cause for upset.

https://googletransparencyproject.org/articles/googles-white...

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#53

Post by vkou » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #44

vkou wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who was deeply disturbed by the United States electing a jingoistic, misogynistic racist and abuser, I really appreciated that I got some fucking emotional support from my colleagues. Never mind that he ran on a platform of throwing a significant portion of the company out of the country. Step into the shoes of someone holding an H1B for one moment, please.

This post is being downvoted and I wish it wasn't, because it's a great example of the exact issue at hand. You might say that it is overly emotional, or too reactionary, or that the tone isn't appropriate, but think - really think! - what it would be like to wake up one morning to the unexpected shock that a President has been elected on the very possible platform of kicking you out of the country and ruining the li…

Exactly. I'll happily stop worrying about politics when politics stops worrying about me. Unsurprisingly, people who feel like Trump is the solution to their 'country being taken away from them' are telling the rest of us to suck it up and stuff it, and to stop bringing politics into everything.

I mean, shit, if they took that advice, he never would have been elected.

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#54

Post by cromwellian » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #18

cromwellian wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, a lot of people were upset over the election, and given what's happened over the last ten months, those feelings seem to have been justified. But yeah, god damn a company for having a culture where people don't go around acting like jerks towards one another. God forbid we grow out of Kindergarten and get back to the real world where people are unhappy and take out their frustrations by raking their cowor…

I don't think an executive should ever complain about an election. They should focus on making their company successful and a good work place.

Sundar Pichai had to deal with dozens of Google Employees who were away on holiday visiting family who were being blocked by Trump's executive order from returning to the country, like a dual-nationality Canadian/Iranian scientist.

Did it ever occur to you that in a company with a huge immigrant population, or 2nd generation immigrants with family, many of whom were impacted by this wave of xenophobia and nationalism in this last election, that they felt under attack? That people who immigrated here and fell in love with America, suddenly were shocked into reality when they discover that so many of their fellow Americans were easily manipulated by the politics of Steve Bannon into voting for xenophobia and scapegoating?

Damn right people were legitimately upset at the social fabric coming undone.

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#55

Post by to3m » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #47

>Google HR uses the TextExpander program, which populates email templates with salutations, job description links and questions. All we have to do is press two keys (mine are semicolon followed by the letter “C”). There’s also space for fill-in-the-blanks: one for the candidate’s name (“Hey Mark”) and another at the end for the day of the week (“Enjoy your Thursday!”), so the message is personal. This step should hav…

It’s just as it says: the personal touch.

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#56

Post by s73ver_ » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #18

cromwellian wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, a lot of people were upset over the election, and given what's happened over the last ten months, those feelings seem to have been justified. But yeah, god damn a company for having a culture where people don't go around acting like jerks towards one another. God forbid we grow out of Kindergarten and get back to the real world where people are unhappy and take out their frustrations by raking their cowor…

I don't think an executive should ever complain about an election. They should focus on making their company successful and a good work place.

I remember many executives complaining about Obama being elected. Hell, I remember many telling their employees they had to vote against him otherwise they could "lose their jobs". (In the metaphorical sense, not that the executive would find out who they voted for and fire them).

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#57

Post by alexanat » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #30

maxxxxx wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think an executive should ever complain about an election. They should focus on making their company successful and a good work place.

What if the result of an election hinders their ability to be successful and create a good work place? I think there is a fair debate to be had about where the line should be drawn, but pretending that politics doesn't exist if you don't talk about it is deluded. For example, Google employs a good number of immigrants. After the election many of them would have been worried about their future in the country. Wouldn't…

It is still not appropriate to complain (or rather cry...) about in a professional setting, imo. How can you expect to have confidence in an executive when they put on an act like that? Nothing says "I don't know what to do" more.

Yes, you are now facing some additional hardships in your job of creating a good workplace where employees can succeed. Those concerns should be addressed within the scope of what the company can or cannot do.

It seems like priorities would shift into protecting immigrant employees and that's okay - that is a hardship that the position entails and is something that should've been addressed long in advance as immigration reform was and probably always will be a controversial topic in the USA.

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#58

Post by menerva » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #20

cromwellian wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, a lot of people were upset over the election, and given what's happened over the last ten months, those feelings seem to have been justified. But yeah, god damn a company for having a culture where people don't go around acting like jerks towards one another. God forbid we grow out of Kindergarten and get back to the real world where people are unhappy and take out their frustrations by raking their cowor…

You can probably create a positive company culture with a cheerful atmosphere without primary school aesthetics.

why should they change the brand for your delicate sensibilities?

the whole point of google is that its an incredibly complicated piece of technology simplified into a search bar. a simple, fun brand - makes sense to have a playful work enviornment.

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#59

Post by s73ver_ » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #20

cromwellian wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, a lot of people were upset over the election, and given what's happened over the last ten months, those feelings seem to have been justified. But yeah, god damn a company for having a culture where people don't go around acting like jerks towards one another. God forbid we grow out of Kindergarten and get back to the real world where people are unhappy and take out their frustrations by raking their cowor…

You can probably create a positive company culture with a cheerful atmosphere without primary school aesthetics.

I fail to comprehend what about bright colors means they are primary school aesthetics. Why should adults only have drab shades of gray?

Re: My Google job was tedious and pointless

#60

Post by drharby » Tue, Oct 17, 2017, 5:48 PM UTC

Kyragem wrote: post #45

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, the single example that you reach for when describing google as an amazing place to work is "beercart Friday?"

Yes the bar at Google is very high and after busting my ass all week solving ridiculously hard problems having someone drop a cold beer and nachos on my desk on a Friday afternoon shows that Google takes employee satisfaction very seriously

Cant tell if sarcasm