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Why I left Google (HN search results)

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Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#51

Post by xienze »

romanovcode wrote: post #20
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #2

I'm curious to see what kind of discussion this generates before the HN mods inevitably kick it off the front page. Most of these links seem to be of employees who quit, but I'll add my article as a user who quit: https://drewdevault.com/2016/11/16/Getting-on-without-Google...

Not using google is much simpler then it sounds. - iPhone - DDG - Firefox/Safari - Some other email then google That's pretty much all you need.

I think a lot of people imagine leaving GMail as being very difficult but in my experience, not really. Get Fastmail and set it up with a custom domain. Not free, but suuuper cheap. Then go through all your accounts and update your email address. Forward GMail to your new email for a while. Done.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#53

Post by collyw »

y3sh wrote: post #6

Tldr politics, glass ceilings, re-orgs, purposeless/abandoned projects. As a former Googler, I can see why people post these: internally Google is hyper-evangelized as the best place to work ever (why would you work anywhere else). When leaving, its a necessary step to form a good argument for yourself as to why you've decided to go against the culture. The personal spin makes it an interesting read.

I always find the "best places to work" type lists a lot of crap. Usually its just a case of biggest and best known companies. I have worked for a real mix of places and the biggest companies haven't been any better than the smaller ones. Usually a good manager makes a far bigger difference.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#54

Post by curtis »

On a somewhat related note, I have found Algolia to be an effective way to search for popular stories that got flagged. Once or twice a day I go to hn.algolia.com and view popular stories for the last 24 hours. This is also an effective way to review popular stories for the last day, whether they got flagged or not. Since Algolia is using a much simpler ranking than the Hacker News front page, you get a much more stable view, which is a nice alternative to submissions flying up and down on the front page at various speeds.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#56

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

JanLaussmann wrote: post #37
freehunter wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The only Google product that I've found hard to replace as someone who frequently needs to semi-coherently communicate in a foreign language is Google Translate. Google Translate still is far from perfect, but it's a decent enough check on my spelling and grammar, but it's lightyears ahead of any competition I've found so far.

https://www.deepl.com/translator is amazing, maybe even better than Google translate.

Started typing some Japanese in there and it detected French! Then I noticed that it only supports a small handful of languages. I have to admit I use Google Translate too, though it's often pretty bad at translating Japanese.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#57

Post by DoreenMichele »

When I worked at Aflac, it was the largest civilian employer in Columbus, GA. It had the tallest building in town. If I made small talk while getting a haircut or buying lunch in town, people would ooh and aah that I had a job there. This was a little funny and surreal because I could not get promoted out of my entry level job. I felt like a loser, yet here were people acting like I'm not worthy.

When I quit, I left town and began doing freelance work. If I had stayed in town or transferred to a different job at a smaller company, I might have felt compelled to justify my decision to leave. I probably would have gotten a lot of social push back and inquiries as to why on earth I would do such a thing.

I imagine most of these posts are written partly for that reason. It cuts back on being asked in the first place and then you can email the link the next 20 times you are asked. Plus, it is free therapy, among other things.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#58

Post by scrollaway »

xienze wrote: post #51
romanovcode wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not using google is much simpler then it sounds. - iPhone - DDG - Firefox/Safari - Some other email then google That's pretty much all you need.

I think a lot of people imagine leaving GMail as being very difficult but in my experience, not really. Get Fastmail and set it up with a custom domain. Not free, but suuuper cheap. Then go through all your accounts and update your email address. Forward GMail to your new email for a while. Done.

You're just glancing over the part where someone has years of archived, labeled, tagged emails in a convenient searchable UI. Importing that isn't straightforward for a techie, let alone a non-techie.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#59

Post by mmq »

JanLaussmann wrote: post #37
freehunter wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The only Google product that I've found hard to replace as someone who frequently needs to semi-coherently communicate in a foreign language is Google Translate. Google Translate still is far from perfect, but it's a decent enough check on my spelling and grammar, but it's lightyears ahead of any competition I've found so far.

https://www.deepl.com/translator is amazing, maybe even better than Google translate.

It's a great product, I stopped using google translate when I discovered this one. The translation is much better, more accurate IMO.

Re: Why I left Google (HN search results)

#60

Post by TallGuyShort »

utellme wrote: post #38
stochastic_monk wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, one needs a reason for leaving a company. But at the same time, one leaves a company or a religion or a relationship for a reason . The argument and reasoning necessitate the departure; they're not developed post hoc. Of course, additional supporting reasons become clear as one looks for and finds the door, and the understanding for why a person or institution is wrong for you evolves as you separate. I'd be int…

Some people just can't say personally and openly to their boss that there is some problem in policy or system if they think it exists. So they trying to inform this way. But it's not every case, some experienced specialists can just write story as summary to give some experience to young newcomers, to arouse interest, maybe answer possible questions.

Side note with nothing to do with the original discussion: My father decided to be honest and give constructive feedback during his exit interview when leaving a company similar in size and importance to Google. Then most of his peers retired and they asked him to come back and offered pretty massive incentives for a pretty small commitment. When he decided to accept? HR got involved and insisted he not be hired because he was "disgruntled" in his exit interview. So now when I leave a company my exit interview is 100% peachy with a vague cliche about why I'm leaving, and I might tell one or two very close friends who work there why I'm leaving. If I trust a company to value my feedback honestly enough, I probably won't be leaving for a while.
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