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Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#91

Post by free652 »

coolwhhip wrote: post #51
zerr wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs Is this true though? I guess it might help with the first contact, but I've heard from x-googlers that they still had to prepare and pass all those whiteboard CS-riddle based interviews again, for next endeavors.

Sample size of one: my company tends to ding candidates from Google if they have any whiff of the kind of status- or compensation-driven thinking displayed in this comment section. Can sometimes indicate limited independent thinking and low concern for others. Definitely can close doors.

While I don't know about the status, but compensation is definitely is the correct thinking. Startups need to offer something for less compensation, a lot of times they offer less and even less flexible than a big co.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#92

Post by alistproducer2 »

gnomeduck wrote: post #7

Advice from someone who had a similar choice and went the startup route: choose the Google option. It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs, but you can invest the money now and create a nice start for yourself. There will never be any shortage of interesting startups to work for in the future.

I never had such an option but I agree. I picked a big company and after a couple years was able to leave in a much better place, financially, than I went in.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#93

Post by bradleyjg »

coolwhhip wrote: post #51
zerr wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs Is this true though? I guess it might help with the first contact, but I've heard from x-googlers that they still had to prepare and pass all those whiteboard CS-riddle based interviews again, for next endeavors.

Sample size of one: my company tends to ding candidates from Google if they have any whiff of the kind of status- or compensation-driven thinking displayed in this comment section. Can sometimes indicate limited independent thinking and low concern for others. Definitely can close doors.

> Sample size of one: my company tends to ding candidates from Google if they have any whiff of the kind of status- or compensation-driven thinking

Does it ding investors for return driven thinking, or does it happily takes checks from people so crass as to care about money?

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#94

Post by Itaxpica »

testtestla wrote: post #80

Take Google and see if u can do advisory work for the startup on side for equity. I am bias as worked at Google but left for startup world and would never go back. The Google name can open pretty much any doors

This would be a violation of Google’s anti-moonlighting clause, so only take this advice if you’re willing to lose your job at Google over it.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#95

Post by daveFNbuck »

zerr wrote: post #29
gnomeduck wrote: post #7

Advice from someone who had a similar choice and went the startup route: choose the Google option. It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs, but you can invest the money now and create a nice start for yourself. There will never be any shortage of interesting startups to work for in the future.

> It will not only open doors for you for all your future jobs Is this true though? I guess it might help with the first contact, but I've heard from x-googlers that they still had to prepare and pass all those whiteboard CS-riddle based interviews again, for next endeavors.

Opening the door means you get the interview, not that you automatically get the job. It can also mean that you get the benefit of the doubt when your interview doesn't go as well as you had hoped.

For my current job, I was able to use my big company experience and contacts to skip the phone screen at least.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#96

Post by bradleyjg »

austhrow743 wrote: post #82
mav3rick wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's compensation driven thinking ? There's a difference between only caring about money vs asking for what you deem fair. Startups always abuse the naivete of new grads and low ball them by saying they are working for a grander cause. That is BS too.

Small town personal tax agencies aren't financially competitive with Deloitte either. Doesn't make them abusive if Deloitte tier accountants choose to work for them. Every industry has small low income employers and big titans with deep pockets. The big take most of the high quality talent by offering high salaries, and the small compete for the scraps with niche offerings. Only in software does being the former seem…

That's true. But by the same token the owners of those agencies don't get up on their high horse about candidates that are "compensation driven". If a top talent interviews with a small town agency and asks if they can do 33% of Deloitte instead of 30%, the agency might say yes and might say no, but they don't say "how dare you even think about money when I am offering you a chance to do god's work on earth by helping to build venmo, but for dogs?!?"

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#97

Post by skj »

Mr_P wrote: post #77
zerr wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard that many things are arcane in-house proprietary stuff, not easily transferable knowledge/experience.

This used to be the case, but these days many fundamental Google tools are open. Borg is Kubernetes, flume is externally available as Google Cloud Dataflow (it's basically Apache Beam), Tensorflow is open source, many of Google's internal java libraries and tools are available externally (Guava, Guice, Dagger), and absl (c++ common libraries) are also available externally. More importantly, assuming you land on a tea…

Borg is not very much like kubernetes from the config or run side. Maybe underlying both are containers, but it's really pretty different.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#98

Post by daveFNbuck »

zerr wrote: post #31
jhillyerd wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is also a very good learning opportunity; there is lots of training available to employees, you will be working with very talented people, and will get to see how the planet-scale dogfood is made first hand.

I've heard that many things are arcane in-house proprietary stuff, not easily transferable knowledge/experience.

That's true about many of the specific tools you learn, but you also learn a lot of generic development skills that no one will take the time to teach you at a startup.

Re: Ask HN: How do I choose between a job offer from Google and a promising startup?

#100

Post by imikay »

Well established company vs future unknown startup, if you are confident with the future of the startup then choose the latter, else choose the former. 6% could be nothing if the startup fails. So it's an easy choice comparing to choose between Google and Apple.
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