Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#1

Post by kj65557 » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 3:59 AM UTC

I've been at Google for 2+ years and am pretty happy with the salary/benefits, but I'm really strating to question the overall direction of the company. It's not clear to me that Google is still innovative like it used to be. I'm a bit torn because I don't want to be cavalier and forego the opportunity that was given to me, but it seems like a lot of smaller companies are doing much more interesting work. How do I know when it's time to leave? What sort of criteria should I be looking for in other companies? I've always been interested in aerospace but most of those companies (SpaceX, etc) seem like a stretch.

(Note, I'm new here, let me know if there's anything I can do better when writing textposts)

Edit: It seems like maybe my particular role isn't that interesting. Which orgs within google are good to work for?

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#2

Post by cottonseed » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 4:49 AM UTC

I found this to be an interesting discussion on the question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2gidnJyGZA

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#3

Post by dingo_bat » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 4:51 AM UTC

On the whole, Google is still one of the most innovative places to work. Even if their ingenuity is decreasing, that doesn't necessarily mean some other place is better. Another thing to consider is what about your job specifically? If that is innovative enough for you, why do you care?

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#4

Post by Scene_Cast2 » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 4:52 AM UTC

So the way you're describing the situation is "should people leave google", not "should you leave google".

General career advice has been discussed a lot here, but it really depends on your personality and motivation. (E.g. do you want a stable job, can you tolerate a stable job for a long time, are you looking to get into management, can you pull off company hopping every 2 years, are you a SWE and do you have a math background & drive to branch into data science, are you planning to launch a startup and what skills are you still missing to do that, etc)

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#5

Post by skybrian » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 4:52 AM UTC

You did't say what office you're in, but Google is a big place and there are lots of internal job openings, at least at the larger offices. I'd suggest looking around both internally and externally to see if there's something that interests you more. (There are teams doing good work that has little to do with the larger political issues.)

That's awfully generic advice, but to do better you'll need to get an advisor who can get to know you.

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#6

Post by charleslmunger » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 4:54 AM UTC

If you've been there for 2+ yeara and you're no longer excited about the work you're doing, maybe take advantage of Google's liberal transfer policy, and join a different team.

But it never hurts to interview.

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#7

Post by monfrere » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 4:57 AM UTC

How 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 projects people are working on if you look around a bit.

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#8

Post by zitterbewegung » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 5:02 AM UTC

I generally go with decisions like this with my gut. If you feel like that you aren't happy with where you are then quit or figure out something new to do either within or without the company. Do you want to be filled with regret or not at the end of the day?

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#9

Post by praneshp » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 5:10 AM UTC

Many 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.

Re: Ask HN: Is it time to leave Google?

#10

Post by kj65557 » Sun, Feb 04, 2018, 5:15 AM UTC

monfrere wrote: post #7

How 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.