Had to look up "SRE": SRE: Site reliability engineer SWE: Software engineer
Though remember, this post was aimed at Google employees, who should know what these are.
Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
41–50 of 86 posts
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#42so basically it's the same as any large megacorp?
Any large megacorp with distracting fun mailing lists and talks to avoid (tip #2). Also 20% time and mentoring (tip #1). Definitely the part about performance reviews (tip #3) and having a good manager (tip #4) is applicable to any company, though the part where you should make sure you choose a good manager might not be.
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#43It is worth noting that Piaw quit Google, and so is biased by that, and the experiences leading up to that. And internally lots of people have found lots of things to disagree with about specific items on his list. There are others that there have been pushes to improve on since. So take all of it with a grain of salt. That said, he does have a lot of experience, so you shouldn't lightly disregard what he says either…
The comment above (and piaw's reply) should be getting more attention. He's not talking about overall work experience. He's talking about promotion.
In my experience so far, Google is not the kind of company that's going to come find you in the trenches and pat you on the back and give you a cookie. You have to seek that out yourself if you care about it.
[edit: clarity]
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#44so basically it's the same as any large megacorp?
Any large megacorp with distracting fun mailing lists and talks to avoid (tip #2). Also 20% time and mentoring (tip #1). Definitely the part about performance reviews (tip #3) and having a good manager (tip #4) is applicable to any company, though the part where you should make sure you choose a good manager might not be.
I like how the advice to succeed at Google involves ignoring (tips 1 and 2) the distracting and fun things that distinguish Google from other companies.
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#45It is worth noting that Piaw quit Google, and so is biased by that, and the experiences leading up to that. And internally lots of people have found lots of things to disagree with about specific items on his list. There are others that there have been pushes to improve on since. So take all of it with a grain of salt. That said, he does have a lot of experience, so you shouldn't lightly disregard what he says either…
> Piaw quit Google, and so is biased by that,
Having an opinion resulting from direct experience with the matter under discussion is not bias.
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed... it's supposedly one of the few remaining companies that actually respect engineers, but this post pretty much comes out and says otherwise in bold, flashing letters. "(Exception: War-room firefighting. Google loves those, and loves heroic performances from people in war-rooms)" The whole "war room" concept in IT has always bothered me -- it's what managers do when they have a crisis that they don't know how…
Given Google's attitude towards perpetual betas, I'm curious if their "war rooms" are more to solve immediate problems (show-stopping bugs, security issues, etc) rather than attempts to "fix" late projects.
Google's attitude toward perpetual betas extends to perpetual war rooms. Almost every feature that you'd recognize from the last three years was developed in a war room. The visual redesign was a war room (well, war cubicle). Real-time search was a war room. The search options panel was a war room. SearchWiki was a war room. The bar across the top was a war room. Pac Man wasn't a war room, but almost all the folks involved were in war rooms and avoiding the war at the time.
Basically, it's just putting all the developers involved on a project in a room together and giving them a clear goal (launching). Other firms might call this "Agile" or even just "development". Heck, still others would call this a "startup".
"We've always been at war with Eurasia..."
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#47It is worth noting that Piaw quit Google, and so is biased by that, and the experiences leading up to that. And internally lots of people have found lots of things to disagree with about specific items on his list. There are others that there have been pushes to improve on since. So take all of it with a grain of salt. That said, he does have a lot of experience, so you shouldn't lightly disregard what he says either…
Yes. The advice was given to help people move up the ladder, grab the brass ring, and get the big payout. If you want quality of life, that advice is not for you. Then again, if you want quality of life, and money is not that important, I think that a good startup is hard to beat.
If your goal is to get the big payout, what the hell are you working at Google for? Most of the people that got the big payout from Google joined...right around when you did, or a few years before. Your odds of becoming an executive at Google are far lower than they are at succeeding with your own startup and getting bought out for big sums.
If you want a big payout, you're much better off working for Google for a couple years to build experience and a reputation, quitting and founding a startup, and then getting reacquired by Google in a $5-20M talent acquisition.
Most people I know at Google are there because they want to work on interesting technical problems without dealing with all the bullshit that comes from running your own business. Google is still very, very effective at that - quite possibly the best place in the world for an engineer that wants to do cool stuff, launch to millions of people, and not push their way through lots of hassles.
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#48Had to look up "SRE": SRE: Site reliability engineer SWE: Software engineer
This confirms my suspicions - SRE are looked at as inferior or "second class citizens" compared to SWE. It also confirms some of the interviewer bias I experienced (I interviewed for an SRE position).
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given Google's attitude towards perpetual betas, I'm curious if their "war rooms" are more to solve immediate problems (show-stopping bugs, security issues, etc) rather than attempts to "fix" late projects.
Google's attitude toward perpetual betas extends to perpetual war rooms. Almost every feature that you'd recognize from the last three years was developed in a war room. The visual redesign was a war room (well, war cubicle). Real-time search was a war room. The search options panel was a war room. SearchWiki was a war room. The bar across the top was a war room. Pac Man wasn't a war room, but almost all the folks in…
What's a war room? Google, ironically, was of no help.
Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)
#50It is worth noting that Piaw quit Google, and so is biased by that, and the experiences leading up to that. And internally lots of people have found lots of things to disagree with about specific items on his list. There are others that there have been pushes to improve on since. So take all of it with a grain of salt. That said, he does have a lot of experience, so you shouldn't lightly disregard what he says either…
> Piaw quit Google, and so is biased by that, Having an opinion resulting from direct experience with the matter under discussion is not bias.
Not bias, but rather a prior. If you know someone quit Google, finding out they disliked a lot of things about Google doesn't give you much more information.