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Announcing Google Research, Europe

research.googleblog.com

141–150 of 157 posts

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#141
post #49
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have actually applied to Google Zurich (but after 10 interviews they didn't hire me) and studied a bit how the life is there. There are many advantages or living there, but the cost of life and the fact that most people in Zurich are immigrants makes it a pretty cold city where it is hard to make friends or stay for a very long period of time. I think that now your point about "tech friendly environments" is not re…

10 interviews? is that normal for a research job? that feels like a lot

7-8 is a typical minimum for Google. 1 non-technical with the recruiter to check for fit, 1-2 technical phone interviews, 5 on-site. So 'only' 1-2 extra if the hiring committee can't decide.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#142
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear the English can speak English quite well

As an Englishman perhaps not as well as you would think.

Yes, when I watch some British TV shows I hear a lot of pronunciations I was taught was wrong in school.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#143
post #55
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm moving back to Google Zurich. The male/female ratio is a huge issue there, so it's good to bring a girlfriend, but cost of living was never a problem. Taxes are minimal, salary at Google Zurich is huge.

Glassdoors shows pretty average. What do you call huge?

Glassdoor doesn't look at the tax differences (use a tax calculator), the fact that Google gives you 8.5% pension that you can use either to buy a flat (I have done it from my Swiss pension money), create a company or use it in emergency, and also you can take it out (after paying taxes) if you leave the country. Also I don't believe the 200k pound figure for Facebook London as a median compensation package. Can somebody confirm it?

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#144
post #77
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all. Germany is one of the most tech/dev friendly country, especially if you are outside web dev. I see a lot of C++ engineering opportunities there. If only it was an English speaking country, and they had a sun... (It's a shame that we don't have a good English speaking country in whole Europe...) ;)

I hear the English can speak English quite well

But it's not the same old english that mama used to speak...

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#145
post #64

This really makes me consider moving my family to Zurich. Looking back at growing up in Germany/Europe made me really feel disadvantaged compared to people growing up in more tech friendly environments. I would want my child to grow up somewhere where technology is not overwhelmingly debated about in a negative light. So much good stuff is coming out of ETH that it really seems to be a place where people talk more en…

Not at all. Germany is one of the most tech/dev friendly country, especially if you are outside web dev. I see a lot of C++ engineering opportunities there. If only it was an English speaking country, and they had a sun... (It's a shame that we don't have a good English speaking country in whole Europe...) ;)

English is one of the two official languages of Malta. I was thinking about this evergreen island myself, but it seems that they have mainly jobs with web dev and C#.

I am now in Germany on C++ job and I don't now German that much.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#146

This really makes me consider moving my family to Zurich. Looking back at growing up in Germany/Europe made me really feel disadvantaged compared to people growing up in more tech friendly environments. I would want my child to grow up somewhere where technology is not overwhelmingly debated about in a negative light. So much good stuff is coming out of ETH that it really seems to be a place where people talk more en…

Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, Munchen, Madrid, Barcelona London (for now), hell even Malaga are tech friendly and much easier (in my experience, but that is totally a matter of taste: I find Swiss too stiff) to settle. Really wondering where you are from. Edit: fixed Barcelona

...and Kraków, Poland. The beautiful city with great heritage, lots of IT companies, rich nightlife and cheap living.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#147
post #66
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 interviews? is that normal for a research job? that feels like a lot

Apparently Apple, Google & co have so many applicants that they can do whatever they want. How incompetent can one be at interviewing to need 10 or 20 interviews?! Soon they'll make candidates crawl through broken glass.

Well, in my case at the on-site interviews one guy had to ask me from a specific domain (JavaScript/front-end) but asked me questions about system-design, even though other interviewer already did that and they pass a sheet from one another so they don't ask questions from the same category. Not surprisingly, the recruiter called that I have to take another 2 interviews because they were unsure of my front-end skills. To make it worse, one of those 2 interviews was actually re-scheduled because the interviewer simply didn't show up. I did average to ~half of the interviews, for the other ~half I was well above average, for some of them I offered solutions they never thought of and were better in terms of complexity then the one that they had (even though they asked the same question many applicants before, that was an online interview and the recruiter told me that the guy told her that they should definitely hire me). Their decision was simply decided by the fact that the last interview (the one that got re-scheduled for a friday-evening with some guy from USA) who asked me some very, very basic JavaScript questions (such as: creating a form input and showing a message when that input is changed), I was really confused as the questions were so easy and I did not know if he was really expecting the obvious answers. My recruited called me, said that I aced the first (out of the two extra interviews) but the last interviewer said that I'm definitely not fit for the job (did I mention that the guy fell of his chair during the interview, after getting his coffee or something like that, maybe this has influenced his decision).

The interview experience was great, but the outcome really left a sour taste in my mouth, especially after bumping into their poor organizational skills.

TL;DR: Everyone was happy or really happy with my performance during the interviews, except the last guy (who was not even from the same office).

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#148
post #39

This really makes me consider moving my family to Zurich. Looking back at growing up in Germany/Europe made me really feel disadvantaged compared to people growing up in more tech friendly environments. I would want my child to grow up somewhere where technology is not overwhelmingly debated about in a negative light. So much good stuff is coming out of ETH that it really seems to be a place where people talk more en…

I have actually applied to Google Zurich (but after 10 interviews they didn't hire me) and studied a bit how the life is there. There are many advantages or living there, but the cost of life and the fact that most people in Zurich are immigrants makes it a pretty cold city where it is hard to make friends or stay for a very long period of time. I think that now your point about "tech friendly environments" is not re…

The immigrant part would make it appealing for me. The amount of outsiders is one thing that makes New York City and Silicon Valley more culturally interesting than Cincinnati or Iowa City.

As for being cold - I have several Swiss friends in Zurich. They are warm and decent people, but they are more reserved than most Americans.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#149
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear the English can speak English quite well

We Swedes too, for that matter.

I had the strangest problem with Swedes where they'd seem to speak perfect English, but repeatedly mishear me as saying something offensive and never stop to make sure.

Actually I think I mentioned "cutting myself shaving" to someone and they apparently to this day believe I'm suicidal.

Re: Announcing Google Research, Europe

#150
post #120
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently Apple, Google & co have so many applicants that they can do whatever they want. How incompetent can one be at interviewing to need 10 or 20 interviews?! Soon they'll make candidates crawl through broken glass.

> How incompetent can one be at interviewing to need 10 or 20 interviews Yes, after a full day of interviewing and five interviews, presumably preceded by phone interviews, the people responsible for hiring should be capable of reaching a decision. I've found that hiring managers who don't value your time lead to managers who don't value your time. They say they want to screen for the best and brightest, but maybe th…

It's more likely both. They want good subservient people.
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