200 Google Stock Units ~ $100,000 over 4 years (probably).
$110k + $25k = $135k.
Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
41–50 of 106 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#42I have no idea whether to take the gig or not, but just know that if you take the job at Google, you're not going to be able to work on side projects in your spare time. California law states that as long as the person isn't in direct competition with their employer, they can keep any IP they develop while not on company time. If you work for Google, however, you work for a company who is trying to organize the world…
I'm sorry, but that isn't correct. California employment law is the most liberal around when it comes to protecting an employees right to perform works on their own time. As long as you don't build a competing search engine, write a competitor to Google mail, etc you're fine. In fact, even if you did, it is likely that Google won't care and won't sue, because the law leans towards the employee in this case.
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#43I know at least one college grad who is getting more GSU than you though, they are 100% lowballing you but they are also sponsoring your Visa to come to the US. Might affect their offer.
Starting GSUs? Apparently they're topped up every now and again.
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#44110k is way too low, they are definitely lowballing you. If you think you are good, you should be making at least 130k-140k+, so I am sure you can negotiate that. If they don't come up on salary, you still can do the following: 1. Join google, work hard, get some experience, make some friends, then 2. Few months (or years) later, look for better opportunity with a better pay. It would be easier for you to find anothe…
I disagree on #2, at least if you are a nerd. Nerds have a better social standing here in Silicon Valley than anywhere else that I've lived. For nerdy introverts, this is the place to be.
Sure, the ratios aren't awesome, but everywhere else I've worked, women seemed to prefer guys who worked at sears over guys who worked with computers... and that's just not the case in silicon valley.
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#45You want a company with nice perks.
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#46Seems a bit low for the Bay Area, but this is subjective and depends on what else they are giving you in terms of perks (free food, etc.) Someone else said rent was $1500. I lived in the Bay Area for 10 years and $1500 gets you a 1BR apartment (maybe 2BR if you want to live south or east). It gets you a share if you want to live in San Francisco. For a house, you are looking at $3K+.
I've lived in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, both quite near the google campuses in Mountain View. The cheapest place I lived was a 2 bedroom above the Lawrence expressway train station in Santa Clara. It was the "bad part of town" by the standards of Santa Clara, but I never felt afraid for myself or my belongings. $1200 a month for the 2 bedroom. The apartment was kindof falling apart, though.
after that, I rented a duplex (a house with a garage that was attached to the garage of another house) for $1500 a month in a reasonably nice part of Sunnyvale. Walking distance to downtown. 2 bedrooms and a garage. Again, the place was old and not particularly well-constructed. It was reasonably maintained and the cosmetics were dealt with, though.
I'm currently in a 2 bedroom apartment, also in sunnyvale, that is very well constructed (good sound insulation, sprinklers, built within the last 20 years) it's walking distance to the AMD building and Fry's. It's around $1750 a month.
All of these places are between 10 and 30 minutes from google, depending on the traffic.
The south bay is quite a bit cheaper and, uh, more 'suburban' than the city. the thing to watch for is that this place was built as a suburb; e.g. most of the construction is done pretty poorly, and much of it is old. We need to knock down some of the old tract homes and build some high rises, but we won't. Of all the places I've lived around here, this apartment is the first one with properly earthed power.
Really, all of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara is pretty safe. Parts of San Jose can get a little bit more dicey but is still quite a bit better than the city as far as getting your windows broken for a GPS. If you head north of google, so long as you stay out of east palo alto, you are fine, crime-wise, but it's all pretty expensive (except, of course, east palo alto)
Of course, this all depends on your standards. I drive a car that isn't worth much more than a month of my rent; if you have BMW tastes, you are going to have to pay more.
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
IANAIL, but I expect that being on (presumably) an H1B will severely limit the OP's ability to shop around for new opportunities or raises.
Perhaps, but staying in the UK is in some ways even more limiting. Having just gone on a trip to Ireland, I'd do it just to get away from the dank darkness that pervades those northern lands:-)
Can't UK citizens / permanent residents work anywhere in the EU?
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#48I have no idea whether to take the gig or not, but just know that if you take the job at Google, you're not going to be able to work on side projects in your spare time. California law states that as long as the person isn't in direct competition with their employer, they can keep any IP they develop while not on company time. If you work for Google, however, you work for a company who is trying to organize the world…
I'm sorry, but that isn't correct. California employment law is the most liberal around when it comes to protecting an employees right to perform works on their own time. As long as you don't build a competing search engine, write a competitor to Google mail, etc you're fine. In fact, even if you did, it is likely that Google won't care and won't sue, because the law leans towards the employee in this case.
Curious - can you cite any cases to support this?
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#49I would do it. If you are worried about doors being closed in the UK by not going to Oxford or Cambridge then working for Google (and in Silicon Valley no less) will open up even more doors.
Re: Ask HN: Should I take this Google job offer?
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without opening another can of worms, doors are more easily opened here if you have a 1st or 2:1 from say Oxford or Cambridge, particularly in the City. From across the pond it looks like the US is worse for this with grads from Stanford, MIT or CMU having a way easier time of it career-wise. It seems a lot easier to get in those "name" companies.
But all this is largely irrelevant, he has the job offer on the table already! That means the Google have placed emphasis on his experience and character rather than where he went to University. If he was applying to Google, fresh out of University (outside of the so called 'top 10') and was wondering if he was in with a chance, then that would be a different story, but he's proven his worth in the industry already.
He == the original poster
I think straight out of university, at least in my experience here in the States, having a degree from a "known" school helps. That said, it does not prevent you from getting good work, especially if you've already built up a social network.