What I learned getting acquired by Google • Hacker News Board

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#381

Post by wnoise » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:07 AM UTC

xwdv wrote: post #172

fredsmith219 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at Google but I was a contractor at a hospital. All the employees got active shooter training. I guess the contractors were meant to be fodder.

Why would they train you? It’s the responsibility of your parent company and for all they know you’ve already been thoroughly trained for active shootings in numerous other companies you’ve worked at. You are not their problem.

For something like active-shooter training, location specific details could matter. A generic training isn't the same thing.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#382

Post by BurningFrog » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:08 AM UTC

jalapenos wrote: post #339

zopa wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in Europe: https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/contractors-accuse-eur... A very similar-sounding caste-system. Europe’s great and all but it isn’t Utopia.

When people here say "Europe is great", which part are they referring to?

They're typically Americans who think all 50+ European countries have very similar legal systems and cultures.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#383

Post by kccqzy » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:11 AM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #342

nitwit005 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying something, rewriting it, and abandoning it, is just squandering money. You can't change that reality by praising Google's way of doing things.

It's worse than squandering money, it's squandering people's time, effort, their lives.

People can decide that money is more important than the continued survival of the product they are working on.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#384

Post by phyrex » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:12 AM UTC

dmitrygr wrote: post #335

guessmyname wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely DO NOT work remotely as a junior developer. Achieving the appropriate career progression requires meaningful interactions with your more experienced colleagues, which may be limited in a remote work environment. That said, here is a small list of things you’ll need to get a job at Google or any of the other Big Tech companies: • Educational Background: it seems that you’re a student at https://www.dhbw.de/…

> which may be limited in a remote work environment. That "may" is carrying a lot of weight there. Almost makes it sound like a fact, while in fact being merely an unsupported opinion.

It’s also the conclusion that meta made after hiring remotely during Covid and observing how that went

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#385

Post by BurningFrog » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:13 AM UTC

moritonal wrote: post #8

Is this a happy story? Having read it my takeaways are that they were immediately asked to rewrite their app in Google's way, then a separate research team went off and wrote them a new API for their core functionality. And now given Socratic by Google on the Play Store was last updated on Oct 21, 2020, and is not available for my Android 13 device, so seems to have just died? Kind of seems like Google bought the com…

When I was at Google 2006-2009, that was how all acquisitions except YouTube were handled.

I've heard that's become better, but maybe not.

Google's search & ads billions keep raining from the sky, so killing acquired product isn't a big problem.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#386

Post by refurb » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:14 AM UTC

jalapenos wrote: post #339

zopa wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in Europe: https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/contractors-accuse-eur... A very similar-sounding caste-system. Europe’s great and all but it isn’t Utopia.

When people here say "Europe is great", which part are they referring to?

The one they saw on Youtube where some random person does a video about their opinions.

You know. "Fact" and "rigorous research".

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#387

Post by bredren » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:15 AM UTC

peddling-brink wrote: post #103

slater- wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thank you for mentioning this. i was a red badge. it was fucking demeaning. i have a lot of stories, but my favorite was when everyone on my floor got an earthquake safety kit except me. literally google didn't care if i lived or died. the expectation was that if i sucked up enough ("demonstrated my value") they MIGHT make me a real boy, like some bizarre Velveteen Rabbit fetish game. i loved watching how Google woul…

This isn't just google, it's every company with contractors and employees. Microsoft learned the hard way to not treat contractors like employees. https://www.reuters.com/article/businesspropicks-us-findlaw-... Nobody else wants to learn that same lesson.

Intel used to do this. I was a high school and college intern in the late 90s and it was this blue badge / green badge thing.

The funny thing is, there was another level which was how worn out your blue badge was. The longer you had been there, the closer the badge was to white.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#388

Post by refurb » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:15 AM UTC

ponector wrote: post #320

whydoyoucare wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to as in what ways is Europe great? From my narrow point of view, most if not all successful startups were founded outside Europe, most countries in Western Europe tend to be monolithic cultures where outsiders are made to feel like outsiders, and many European nations are socialist utopias (which means they take away a HUGE chunk of salary as tax). (And I am asking this in a friendly tone, as a genuinely cu…

It is great for living, for raising kids. For life. Taxes in Europe are huge, but comparable with taxes in California. Just sum all federal, state, local taxes on the salary, property taxes, sales taxes, health insurance fee, college tuition fee. Don't forget to add 25% tips to that. Count also small vacation, maternity leave and sick leave. And then compare for example with France. And not to mention you wouldn't fi…

No. Just look at taxes as a percentage of GDP and you can see EU taxes are 50%+ higher than even CA.

Then add on top the lower wages.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#389

Post by tick_tock_tick » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:16 AM UTC

JSavageOne wrote: post #258

ethbr1 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a contractor, you are an FTE... just for a different (almost always much worse) company. And that arrangement exists solely so that the company whose work you're actually doing can fire you more easily or avoid legal liability.

I'm surprised this even legally flies. Seems like the legal equivalent of creating a shell company.

I mean classic example are contracting out food service in the corporate cafeteria. You contract the work to some random other company who hire people to do food service or do you want Google or whoever to start hiring cooks themselves? Janitorial staff is also a classic role for this style of employment.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#390

Post by tick_tock_tick » Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 12:17 AM UTC

jalapenos wrote: post #339

zopa wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in Europe: https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/11/contractors-accuse-eur... A very similar-sounding caste-system. Europe’s great and all but it isn’t Utopia.

When people here say "Europe is great", which part are they referring to?

The one people on reddit present when bashing the USA.