Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit • Hacker News Board

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#21

Post by siberianbear » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:10 PM UTC

For people outside Silicon Valley or still studying at the university, Google probably seems like an awesome place.

It's just another Silicon Valley bigco. That's especially true now. In the early 2000s, it was probably a very cool place. But all big companies get more awful as they get bigger. I'm sure the bureaucracy and politics there are stifling, like all bigcos.

I was happy at the other companies I worked at. I selected and targeted all the companies I worked at, and Google wasn't one of them. I never answered the voice mails from Google recruiters and never responded to their LinkedIn messages.

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#22

Post by adamnemecek » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:11 PM UTC

> Everyone wants to work at Google

This circle jerk needs to stop.

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#23

Post by daxfohl » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:11 PM UTC

throwaway3643 wrote: post #5

In the era of Sundar it has become harder and harder to recommend Google as a place to work to friends. Trust me, it is quite noticeable on the inside when the company stops being run by the founders, and starts being run by an MBA with no vision. Posted anonymously to avoid work repercussions. -Googler of > 5.5years

Microsoft seems like it could be a touch better under Satya than under Bill.

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#24

Post by pjc50 » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:15 PM UTC

taneq wrote: post #11

These responses seem kind of formulaic and bland. I don't know why but I expected something juicier - these are mostly just people realising they need to move on, for the same reasons most of us do.

It sounds like they've been severely shortened to keep them "interesting", at the expense of most of the details.

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#25

Post by TeMPOraL » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:27 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #18

monaghanboy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I expected something juicier What does the quantity of employees have to do with the discussion?

The greater the sample size, the more room for outliers.

Also the smaller chance that a random sample will have outliers in it.

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#26

Post by gota » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:35 PM UTC

daxfohl wrote: post #23

throwaway3643 wrote: post #5

In the era of Sundar it has become harder and harder to recommend Google as a place to work to friends. Trust me, it is quite noticeable on the inside when the company stops being run by the founders, and starts being run by an MBA with no vision. Posted anonymously to avoid work repercussions. -Googler of > 5.5years

Microsoft seems like it could be a touch better under Satya than under Bill.

I guess the world is so different now that we can't make that comparison fairly. We can try to extrapolate what Bill Gates would do now based on what he did then, but we can't really know for sure.

The reverse is also true. Could Satya navigate the old Microsoft and deliver it as (still) one of the most valuable companies in the world?

But I digress. The point is, maybe Gates would've done just fine if he had chose to do so. Personally, I'm glad for B&M Gates Foundation's role in the world right now, so I'm kind of glad he didn't

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#27

Post by rburhum » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:37 PM UTC

Anyone that has been lucky enough to be able to build and run any organization with 50+ people knows that every month you will have new people joining and at least someone leaving. That has nothing to do with your company culture or how well you can retain good talent, it is just a numbers game.

Obviously any organization with thousands of people will have this happen at a much bigger scale.

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#28

Post by ma2rten » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:37 PM UTC

mliker wrote: post #9

throwaway3643 wrote: post #5

In the era of Sundar it has become harder and harder to recommend Google as a place to work to friends. Trust me, it is quite noticeable on the inside when the company stops being run by the founders, and starts being run by an MBA with no vision. Posted anonymously to avoid work repercussions. -Googler of > 5.5years

Can you elaborate for those of us considering Google?

Can you elaborate for those of us working at Google and don't know what you are talking about?

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#29

Post by jhare » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:40 PM UTC

adamnemecek wrote: post #22

> Everyone wants to work at Google This circle jerk needs to stop.

Can I upvote this a million times pls

Re: Former Googlers on how they knew it was time to quit

#30

Post by writepub » Wed, Oct 17, 2018, 3:43 PM UTC

throwaway3643 wrote: post #5

In the era of Sundar it has become harder and harder to recommend Google as a place to work to friends. Trust me, it is quite noticeable on the inside when the company stops being run by the founders, and starts being run by an MBA with no vision. Posted anonymously to avoid work repercussions. -Googler of > 5.5years

Correlation isn't causation. Sundar is an MBA and not a founder - true. He's also the guy who was called to steady the ship when founders got bored and moved on to sexier things.

In my opinion, what you're experiencing is more to do with Google becoming a big, public company with a clearly defined mission statement. Unlike the Google of yesteryears whose mission was everything from self driving cars to domestic fiber internet.

All successful companies eventually find their boring but profitable mission and tool their processes around it