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Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

piaw.blogspot.com

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Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#61

Post by jrockway »

philwelch wrote: post #44
wan23 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you are willing to spend more than 8 hours a day on "work", then you can do well and read mailing lists. If you were at a company other than Google, then your 9th hour wouldn't get you much more than a headache, but at Google, you can learn about cool stuff and get to know your coworkers better.

(I think 8 hours is way too long to spend working in a single day anyway, so company-sponsored mailing lists seem like a nice distraction. I would rather just go home and read Internet mailing lists though.)

Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#62

Post by nostrademons »

piaw wrote: post #55
nostrademons wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

Google is still handing out million dollar awards. For many people, the low risk but potentially high reward setup is ideal. For instance, getting the big Android founder's award probably beat being the 10th employee at Aardvark.

Only if you're Andy Rubin.

When I look at the dollar amount of some of the largest-ever Founders Awards and then see how many people they're split between, I can't imagine that the payout is anywhere close to even an employee's payout for an acquisition. I dunno how the Founders Awards are divided up, but I'd imagine that it's a skew distribution, with most of it going to the initiators and key early team members of the project. Some of these teams have hundreds of employees; I really doubt that someone who joined six months before the Founders Award makes off with any more than a "Hey, that's a nifty bonus" amount.

Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#63

Post by nostrademons »

skybrian wrote: post #59
JakeSc wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a war room? Google, ironically, was of no help.

Get everyone who's working on a big problem together in one room. It raises the question: if this works, why not do it all the time?

...which is basically what Google (and several other software companies) does. That's why I say that some people simply call it "development".

Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#64

Post by SirWart »

piaw wrote: post #55
nostrademons wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 co…

Google is still handing out million dollar awards. For many people, the low risk but potentially high reward setup is ideal. For instance, getting the big Android founder's award probably beat being the 10th employee at Aardvark.

Based on the little I know about this, it probably beat being almost any employee. With $6 million invested, sold for $50 million, wouldn't you need more than a 2% stake to earn a million on the sale? Could someone more knowledgable break down how that $50 million was likely distributed, and what number employee you would have to be to get a million? (also what's the tax difference between the founders award and a million dollar startup exit)

Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#65

Post by sabj »

There is a lot of helpful context that could theoretically be added to an article like this, which would obviate a lot of the "wow, so depressing" or "Google has succumbed to the times" comments here.

Alas, for confidentiality reasons, such cannot be shared :|

Suffice is to say, do be sure to take this as but one data point of many :)

Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#66

Post by mlinsey »

skybrian wrote: post #59
JakeSc wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a war room? Google, ironically, was of no help.

Get everyone who's working on a big problem together in one room. It raises the question: if this works, why not do it all the time?

It usually also means that the people in the war room are only working on that problem, and that they are working extremely long hours.

Re: Tips for Noogler Engineers (Noogler = New at Google)

#67

Post by Confusion »

Husafan wrote: post #26
alain94040 wrote: post #8

I was expecting one more "google is great" love-post. It was anything but. If you are dreaming of joining Google, this is the article to read. Really.

http://xkcd.com/192/ http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/23/confirmation-bias/ For people that already have misgivings about interviewing for a position at Google, I'm sure this post was a god send. I mean, after reading all those "google is great" love-posts, you read one that points out flaws, and all of the sudden that's the one to read? All the others go out the window? How does that work?

All the others are repetitions of the same positive points. This is one of the first one to list many negative points. This is an awesome reality check for anyone considering to apply at Google: they are just like any other large company, in that you need to be weary of managers, because their goals often don't coincide with yours.
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