If not Google, who are the tier-1 employers?
Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
11–20 of 44 posts
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#12That's a common criticism of google; that everyone there is so educated and qualified, you have PHD comp sci people writing unit tests.
Would that be so bad?
Yes, I would think so. AS some people say, and I agree with this, to enjoy a job it has to be fulfilling. If you are an amazing compsci guy that's stuck making highschool-grade java programs, it's going to be a bit soul-sucking I'd think. Sure, you're getting paid to do simple stuff, but if I was working at google I'd hope I would get to do cutting edge algorithms and the like.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#13That's a common criticism of google; that everyone there is so educated and qualified, you have PHD comp sci people writing unit tests.
Would that be so bad?
Assuming the PhD was not in something related to software testing and is not entirely worthless, you're either overpaying for irrelevant skills or paying someone less than they could get elsewhere. Neither are a good thing.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#14The student mentions that Google's pay is "average" and the housing stipend is taxed more than wages, bringing the overall compensation down to on par with other employers in the valley. Fair enough.
He then says that other more prestigious startups are paying more and allow employees to be on the ground floor and have a bigger impact - I'm curious to see a list of these companies.
I also wonder if "fresh out of grad school" versus "worked at Google for 2 years + grad school" gets you into these startups. I still believe seeing Google on your resume gets you a second look.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#15TIL that even students from top CS program have no idea about taxes if they think that housing stipend is taxed higher than ordinary income.
He is not alone though - compensation director at Box tried to convince me that higher salary is significantly better than lower salary + bonus because of higher taxes on bonus.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#16"For full time specifically, you get equity at a startup. If it IPOs, you make millions if you're one of the first 100-1000 employees." Not really. You can make millions if you're a founder... As a regular employee you have more chances to make millions by going to Vegas than with stock options.
Believing you'll get rich on options in 2015 or beyond is impressively naïve.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#17"For full time specifically, you get equity at a startup. If it IPOs, you make millions if you're one of the first 100-1000 employees." Not really. You can make millions if you're a founder... As a regular employee you have more chances to make millions by going to Vegas than with stock options.
Let's be real; most kids who graduate from a top CS program end up at Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. They will make great money ($100k+) and many will eventually leave to go to a startup.
The kids who are going to be successful doing startups with no work experience likely dropped out to join an accelerator before they graduated.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#18"Recent Comp-Sci Grads say all sorts of things that vary in cleverness," says recent TA.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#19"For full time specifically, you get equity at a startup. If it IPOs, you make millions if you're one of the first 100-1000 employees." Not really. You can make millions if you're a founder... As a regular employee you have more chances to make millions by going to Vegas than with stock options.
In my experience the first 1K employees at companies prior to going public have a much higher chance of becoming millionaires as a result of their equity holdings in the company. I'll see if I can find a better source.
Re: Google Is Now a 'Tier Two' Employer, Says Recent Comp-Sci Grad
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would that be so bad?
Not in itself, no. I'd be happy to have a PhD writing unit tests for me, but if they're overqualified for that (which I think is the assumption we're making) I'd probably rather have them working on a harder problem. I think the point is that it's not an efficient use of their skills.
Which is why it wouldn't happen. Interns and entry level grads are doing testing; they hire PhDs specifically for doing the kind of research they were doing at university. But the original comment wasn't serious anyway, just making a point.