3 ms·

Does Google pay well? I'm under the impression that they are more about perks and cool projects than salary and benefits.

earle 16y ago
you are correct
- purtyfce2 16y ago
  Earle, You posted the fermilabs mystery letter: full cryptanalysis, you last comment is drink you ovaltine. I am incredibly interested in where this fits into the code...f0be58f2fd63 6c79d2e493e6..I am trying to break a code that is very similar to this but have no experience breaking codes so I have been researching codes and how to break them, this is the closest I have come, but still would love to ask you some questions, if you have time. I dont want you to break it for me, I just need a little guidance, when thinking this thru.
nostrademons 16y ago
"Pay well" is relative. I believe they target the 75th percentile in total compensation, i.e. 25% of the time, people that receive offers from Google would receive more money by working elsewhere. Perks are included in that, but they're pretty tiny, eg. the free food is valued at about $5k/year (it actually only costs about $2-3k/year, which is why Google does it). That's pretty decent, particularly considering that people that receive offers from Google tend to be a small, highly-valued slice of the total programmer pool. I make more than twice as much (including bonus + stock options) at Google than I did at my previous employer, though that's not really a fair comparison since that employer was my first job out of college and there was a startup I founded in between. The other reason I say it's relative is because your market value after working for Google at a couple years is significantly more than when you joined. After all, you made it through their hiring process, and then you've had a couple years to learn all about their search algorithms and infrastructure and data-driven culture and tons of other stuff that makes you more valuable to prospective employers. But if you haven't gotten a promotion (and promotions can be kinda difficult at Google, because all your peers excel too), you're being paid maybe 6-7% more than when you started, barely above inflation. So your salary - which was probably significantly above other offers when you joined - is now probably significantly under what those companies would pay you now. Curiously, barring people that didn't fit in with the culture and left in their first 6 months, I know very few people that ever leave for another job. Most of the coworkers I know that have left (and that I miss) went to found startups. One is in YC WFP10. Ex-Googler startups seem to be getting picked up a lot for $5-10M nowadays, which is of course a whole lot more than a Googler would ever make in salary.

earle 16y ago

you are correct

purtyfce2 16y ago
Earle, You posted the fermilabs mystery letter: full cryptanalysis, you last comment is drink you ovaltine. I am incredibly interested in where this fits into the code...f0be58f2fd63 6c79d2e493e6..I am trying to break a code that is very similar to this but have no experience breaking codes so I have been researching codes and how to break them, this is the closest I have come, but still would love to ask you some questions, if you have time. I dont want you to break it for me, I just need a little guidance, when thinking this thru.

nostrademons 16y ago

"Pay well" is relative. I believe they target the 75th percentile in total compensation, i.e. 25% of the time, people that receive offers from Google would receive more money by working elsewhere. Perks are included in that, but they're pretty tiny, eg. the free food is valued at about $5k/year (it actually only costs about $2-3k/year, which is why Google does it). That's pretty decent, particularly considering that people that receive offers from Google tend to be a small, highly-valued slice of the total programmer pool. I make more than twice as much (including bonus + stock options) at Google than I did at my previous employer, though that's not really a fair comparison since that employer was my first job out of college and there was a startup I founded in between. The other reason I say it's relative is because your market value after working for Google at a couple years is significantly more than when you joined. After all, you made it through their hiring process, and then you've had a couple years to learn all about their search algorithms and infrastructure and data-driven culture and tons of other stuff that makes you more valuable to prospective employers. But if you haven't gotten a promotion (and promotions can be kinda difficult at Google, because all your peers excel too), you're being paid maybe 6-7% more than when you started, barely above inflation. So your salary - which was probably significantly above other offers when you joined - is now probably significantly under what those companies would pay you now. Curiously, barring people that didn't fit in with the culture and left in their first 6 months, I know very few people that ever leave for another job. Most of the coworkers I know that have left (and that I miss) went to found startups. One is in YC WFP10. Ex-Googler startups seem to be getting picked up a lot for $5-10M nowadays, which is of course a whole lot more than a Googler would ever make in salary.