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Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
21–30 of 49 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#22At the risk of stating the obvious- it doesn't matter how innovative a company is as a whole, it matters how innovative what you're doing is. SpaceX does some really cool stuff, say, but you're not a rocket scientist- managing their financial software wouldn't be cooler than it would be for anyone else's. Conversely, Snapchat is just a goofy app for teenagers, but whoever writes the facial tracking system they use in their photo filters is doing some neat science. I don't know what the insides of Google are like, but I would bet that if there's anywhere a mid-career programmer can gain some interesting new skills on the job, it's probably somewhere in there- and that will get you a more interesting position, whether you stay or go elsewhere in the longer run.
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#23Find People and teams you want to work with internally first and interview with them. What is happening in the news has nothing to do with developing your own skills. That fully depends on the people you surround yourself with. And if you haven't learnt how to find those people within a place like Google, it's not going to be easy to learn outside.
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why aren't you creating something interesting? Good careers don't go to those waiting to be handed a golden egg.. understand the business, understand innovative technology, and connect them, and the world will be your oyster. If management won't let you understand enough of the business to do so, I sympathize, I've been there. But if you're allowed to understand the business and are expecting someone else to come up…
I see what you mean, but getting approval to make changes is challenging in this particular department.
As Grace Hopper said, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. That's generally a motto for people who get shit done.
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#25Brain. Verily, calico, look at their venture page: hundreds of amazing projects backed by teams of phds in the prime of their careers. You could bring some of that work in house.
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why aren't you creating something interesting? Good careers don't go to those waiting to be handed a golden egg.. understand the business, understand innovative technology, and connect them, and the world will be your oyster. If management won't let you understand enough of the business to do so, I sympathize, I've been there. But if you're allowed to understand the business and are expecting someone else to come up…
I see what you mean, but getting approval to make changes is challenging in this particular department.
Also, if you're not getting approval, maybe you need to work on connecting your ideas to business value a bit more...
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#27How senior are you? I would first spend some time hunting for innovative teams within Google to transfer to. There are plenty of boring jobs at Google but also plenty of ambitious small teams working on startup-like projects. Even cute experimental features on big established products (search/gmail/maps/drive/etc.) often could plausibly be the basis for an entire startup, but there are also some pie-in-the-sky projec…
There might be some possibility for leadership but otherwise it's all CRUD operations and the complexity is in the business, not the tech.
I think you expose yourself a bit too much. With this information, people would know who you are. At this point, I don't think you would like your boss/colleagues know you are asking this question here.
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
There might be some possibility for leadership but otherwise it's all CRUD operations and the complexity is in the business, not the tech.
I think you expose yourself a bit too much. With this information, people would know who you are. At this point, I don't think you would like your boss/colleagues know you are asking this question here.
Fixed, thanks
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see what you mean, but getting approval to make changes is challenging in this particular department.
Also, if you're not getting approval, maybe you need to work on connecting your ideas to business value a bit more...
That's true. I'm still new to this org so things might change
Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?
#30Many Googlers I meet/am friends with have no fucking clue about the rest of the industry, especially so if that was their first job. If that applies to you, be careful. I'd look internally first.
How so?
Couple of things I notice mainly
1. Pushing code and being unaware of the build system that does anything else.
2. Unable to comprehend that there can be teams/companies where some products are written and maintained by one person, and does not have any practical code reviewing. (This is not a good thing, but it is not difficult to imagine how that can be).
3. (and lately), people explaining things that come off to me as SWE/SRE friction, as opposed to the typical google SRE hiring/book propaganda.
I'll add anything I can think of, but obviously it's one persons opinion.