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Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

medium.freecodecamp.com

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Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#41

Post by Tannic »

untog wrote: post #32

It fascinates me the extent to which he regrets not getting a Computer Science degree, and says it impacts how hireable he is. Obviously, data point of one here, but I don't have one and it hasn't come up once in my career. You may not see web development and software engineering as different positions. Both involve programming and craftsmanship, but software engineering adds to it knowledge of data structures and al…

Google is a multinational corporation just as interested in exploiting everything as any other conglomerate. Form determines function at that scale.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#42

Post by hkmurakami »

fdsfsaa wrote: post #13

This guy is sad. All those people on Quora who ask unending questions about Google are sad. They're suckers. They've eaten up Google's marketing. You want to know the reality? Whatever's special about Google is long gone. Management let the smoke out a long time ago. Nowadays, Google is just another big software company, with all the opaque politics, purposelessness, and random nonsense that comes with being a big co…

This is like preparing for an iBanking or Management Consulting interview: undergrads and bschool students alike will spend months preparing for those.

And it's "worth it", if they really have what you're after. For banking and consulting, analyst training is truly great. The signaling after those few years when you're a bright kid who studied history in undergrad, is pretty good too. And with Google, you can't deny that they're one of the highest paying employers around for tech.

It's not for everyone but I think it's fine for folks who have those priorities.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#43

Post by swingbridge »

The very fact that "preparing for 8 months for a Google interview" is a thing highlights all the things that have gone wrong at Google and their widely panned bad recruitment practices.

The process has become about recruiting people that are good at the silly process and not about recruiting the best people. Probably OK if Google is in 'megacorp looking to feed more skillled cogs into the machine' mode (which it mostly is), but unlikely the process finds the person that builds the next Google.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#44

Post by duderific »

untog wrote: post #32

It fascinates me the extent to which he regrets not getting a Computer Science degree, and says it impacts how hireable he is. Obviously, data point of one here, but I don't have one and it hasn't come up once in my career. You may not see web development and software engineering as different positions. Both involve programming and craftsmanship, but software engineering adds to it knowledge of data structures and al…

> It fascinates me the extent to which he regrets not getting a Computer Science degree, and says it impacts how hireable he is. Obviously, data point of one here, but I don't have one and it hasn't come up once in my career.

Same here, except for when I interviewed at Google. :) I was interviewing for a frontend position, and I got through the interviews ok and was passed along to a few departments. Payments was interested in hiring me, so I got passed back to the "hiring committee" who has the final say. I started receiving emails from the Google recruiter (who was the go-between between me and the hiring committee) with specific questions about my degree (Anthropology from Berkeley), the timeframe I attended and what my GPA was. In the end, they decided not to hire me, even though the Payments team had expressed interest in hiring me, even saying "we'd love to have you on board." I can only conclude that it was specifically because of my education (or lack thereof).

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#45

Post by rhizome »

hahamrfunnyguy wrote: post #19
marsrover wrote: post #11

> Wherever I end up, I’m going in as an entry-level software engineer. I’m not going in with 15 years of software engineering experience because I simply don’t have it. When it comes to this stuff, I’m the equivalent of a fresh CS grad. Talk about selling yourself short. You've been a web developer for 15 years. I would think you've progressed a little further than entry-level.

You'd be surprised! I've interviewed many "veterans" (and worked with a few!) who just don't have the chops. In the world of web development, the developer who knows just enough to skate by without a proper understanding of algorithms and design patterns seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Kudos to him for acknowledging it and trying to do something about it.

skate by without a proper understanding of algorithms and design patterns

In your estimation, what are the most important algorithms and design patterns to know for web development?

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#46

Post by cpeterso »

devopsproject wrote: post #14
bshimmin wrote: post #6

I feel like this is some sort of promotional piece, but I can't quite get the angle - is he a fictitious individual made up by Google? Is this an attempt by Apple to make Google employees look weird? Is he a real person who's looking to publish a book? Perhaps it's entirely legit, but it just seems so, so strange to me.

He is setting himself up for a business\consultancy\bootcamp where other people will pay him to help get hired at one the big four. He is already making his pitch: I read x books but you only need x-6 books to succeed. Sign up today, space is limited.

That his post is on a website called freecodecamp.com and he is promoting his googleyasheck.com website, yet hasn't actually interviewed at Google yet, does strongly suggest he is looking to build a training service. If he doesn't get hired at Google, he can pivot and say he can "make a bigger impact helping other people learn" with his training service.

Here is another promotional post from two months ago:

https://startupnextdoor.com/introducing-googley-as-heck/

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#47

Post by rhizome »

jefferson123 wrote: post #33

This should not be promoted as a case study, or a success story for people to aspire to emulate. I hope this guy the best, but he obviously has some mental issue and he's trying to find solace in talking about it publicly.

What's the obvious part?

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#48

Post by pokler »

__derek__ wrote: post #39
bshimmin wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can perhaps understand that sort of attitude from people fresh out of their computer science degree, or even after half a dozen years of miserable grind in the workforce - but this guy looks to be in his forties, has (apparently) already had a successful career... and yet he has a blog called "Googley as Heck" and his LinkedIn headline is "Future Googler". Is this not all a bit weird?

We're well into the Age of the Personal Brand Gospel. Accepting that fact makes things like this easier to understand.[1] You may want to pick up a copy of Infinite Jest to help guide your transition. [1]: Yes, still weird.

'Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.' - DFW (from IJ)

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#49

Post by beachstartup »

hkmurakami wrote: post #42
fdsfsaa wrote: post #13

This guy is sad. All those people on Quora who ask unending questions about Google are sad. They're suckers. They've eaten up Google's marketing. You want to know the reality? Whatever's special about Google is long gone. Management let the smoke out a long time ago. Nowadays, Google is just another big software company, with all the opaque politics, purposelessness, and random nonsense that comes with being a big co…

This is like preparing for an iBanking or Management Consulting interview: undergrads and bschool students alike will spend months preparing for those. And it's "worth it", if they really have what you're after. For banking and consulting, analyst training is truly great. The signaling after those few years when you're a bright kid who studied history in undergrad, is pretty good too. And with Google, you can't deny…

it wasn't so long ago that nobody did this for tech, because we had a self-selecting industry that paid smart people very well, and those banker and consultant kids looked to us with a certain level of envy because we could naturally, seemingly effortlessly (not really), do what they studied years and years to do, which is make over 100 grand in your early 20's without really trying. those days are almost over. the b-school invasion is in its 2nd decade now.

Re: Why I Studied Full-Time for 8 Months for a Google Interview

#50

Post by stonemetal »

bshimmin wrote: post #6

I feel like this is some sort of promotional piece, but I can't quite get the angle - is he a fictitious individual made up by Google? Is this an attempt by Apple to make Google employees look weird? Is he a real person who's looking to publish a book? Perhaps it's entirely legit, but it just seems so, so strange to me.

It is on free code camp's blog. So I guess they are advertising to try and pick up the star struck high school kids who want to work at google?

I just ran across free code camp a few days ago on reddit. They have an interesting pitch, learn to code then build a portfolio by building stuff for nonprofits.

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