Ask HN: Is Google still a cool place to work?

I'm most interested in opinions from xooglers. From what I see it's still a great company and great place to work. Some xooglers seem to think it's lost its luster. I'm trying to collect all opinions; I'm expecting an offer today.

Congratulations on the offer! I don't currently work there, but from what I've heard, it's still pretty good. It may no longer measure up to the Google of yore, but I'd still look very favorably upon Google compared to the average working conditions for software developers today.

The folks who seem down on it have legitimate gripes (e.g. you're a cog in a large machine, management is intentionally sparse, hard to get promotions), but I think it really depends on what you want out of a job. If you want to be your own boss or expect to remain a big fish in whatever pond you're swimming in, Google's probably not going to work out for you.

I have always preferred micro companies because of the freedom to drive the chiefdom from your humble developer positions. I remember an article about an Apple engineer developing first Mac to run on X86 architecture. This is an example of micro company that Apple has always been and I doubt any company, including Google, can match it.

That sounds about right to me. It's very good for what it is (a large successful IT company where you're going to be a cog in a large machine)

But I don't think it's what many are looking for, or at least, not me.

When you get an offer the answer is generally the same:

Go and see for yourself, otherwise you might regret it.

But yes and no, most googlers I met still love it.

Some of them feel that theyre too late, and that had they joined a few years earlier theyd be in a position where they could actually be more successful instead of being a workhorse.

yes it's a cool place, but the right place, I don't know.